An El Paso man received a 48-month prison sentence on Monday for kidnapping, according to federal court documents. Leland Alexander Drumheller, age 20, initiated an encounter with his ex-girlfriend on Jan. 20 to retrieve a sweatshirt, an interaction that escalated into violence and abduction as he prevented the woman from leaving his vehicle and drove her to a remote area in Chaparral, New Mexico, where he left her stranded.
The confrontation began innocently with Drumheller contacting his ex-girlfriend by text message to meet and exchange his belongings and although they met willingly, the situation quickly turned hostile as Drumheller reacted with anger—the victim attempted to escape at various traffic lights, but he thwarted her efforts, seizing her by the hair and the fabric of her sweatshirt to keep her from fleeing. At one point, when her current boyfriend called, Drumheller disposed of the victim's opportunity to seek help by throwing the phone out of the car, according to a Department of Justice report.
In a desolate area of Chaparral, the victim was commanded to exit the vehicle and mimic the posture of penitence on her knees, Drumheller used his cell phone to simulate a firearm at the back of her head delivering threats that intimated further violence should she cross him again, after which he abandoned her in the desert, the DOJ report detailed.
Following his arrest on Feb. 3, Drumheller's plea of guilty came on Sept. 2, and the subsequent sentencing by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone includes not just the prison term, but also five years of supervised release and it was U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas who made the announcement of the sentencing, the FBI and El Paso Police Department were the investigating bodies for the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Valenzuela credited for the prosecution.
