Six Mexican nationals were convicted Monday of taking a college student hostage in a Texas border town.
The six men all pleaded guilty and will be deported after they serve their prison sentences according to the FBI.
The convicts abducted the 19 year-old man from his parent's home in McAllen, Texas on Nov. 7, 2012. The men demanded a $700,000 ransom from victim's family before releasing the victim to another individual the next day.
According to the FBI:
U.S. District Judge Randy Crane, who accepted all the guilty pleas, sentenced Roman Rivera-Guillen, 33; Jose Molina, 24; Alfonso Ivan Villasana, 20; Israel Flores Jr., 21; Julio Cesar Fernandez, 25; and Bernardino Sanchez, 23, for their roles in the hostage taking. The court noted that Rivera-Guillen was a leader in the conspiracy and sentenced him to 270 months in federal prison, while Molina, Villasana, Flores, Fernandez, and Sanchez received respective terms of 210, 144, 210, 234, and 210 months’ imprisonment. As non-U.S. citizens, all are expected to face deportation proceedings upon their release from prison.
McAllen, Texas is one of the state's many towns that border Mexico. It is located at the southern tip of the Rio Grande Valley across from Reynosa, Mexico.
