A federal jury in Los Angeles found a brother and sister from Mexico guilty of kidnapping a neighbor at gunpoint in 2022, then driving across the border to the U.S. to collect a ransom payment from his family.
Mario Alex Medina, 54, and María Alejandra Medina, 51, both of Rosarito, were each found guilty of conspiracy to commit hostage-taking and conspiracy to demand a ransom payment, according to an Oct. 25 announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
Mario Medina was also found guilty of one count of making a foreign communication with the intention to extort money.
“These defendants subjected their victim and his family to a terrifying ordeal in order to illegally profit,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in the statement. “Such callous disregard for others and cavalier use of violence cannot and will not be tolerated.”…