Nearly twenty years after a 2005 kidnapping plot targeting a Menlo Park worker, the man convicted in the case has been denied parole, keeping him behind bars for the foreseeable future. Alfonso Cuevas Gonzalez, convicted in San Mateo County in 2007, appeared by video from Pelican Bay State Prison for his initial parole suitability hearing. Victims in the case joined remotely and urged the parole panel not to let him out.
According to KRON4, the Board of Parole Hearings denied Gonzalez's request for release and found that he remains an unreasonable danger to the community. The board's December hearing schedule shows Gonzalez's initial suitability hearing was set for Dec. 10 at Pelican Bay and that reconsideration of his case was deferred for another five years, according to the California Board of Parole Hearings calendar.
How prosecutors say the plot unfolded
Prosecutors have said Gonzalez was hired by Menlo Park jewelry store owner Ricardo Zambrano to abduct a woman who had repeatedly turned down Zambrano's advances. The victim worked at a jewelry stand inside the Mi Rancho market. On June 10, 2005, Gonzalez allegedly grabbed her at gunpoint and forced her into a vehicle, prosecutors said.
According to contemporaneous coverage, Gonzalez then drove her toward Fresno, where prosecutors alleged she was to be raped and killed before she managed to escape with help. Those details were reported at the time by SFGate.
Convictions and sentence
A San Mateo County jury convicted Gonzalez in 2007 of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit rape, kidnapping during a carjacking and related counts. A judge sentenced him in June 2007 to 35 years to life in state prison. The convictions and sentence were later affirmed on appeal, according to the California Court of Appeal decision.
Victims address the board
At this week's parole hearing, the victim and others connected to the case appeared remotely and described the continuing impact of the abduction, according to reporting cited by prosecutors. The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office told KRON4 that the board again concluded Gonzalez posed an unreasonable risk to public safety and denied parole, setting his next suitability hearing for five years from now.
What happens next
Under the board's decision, Gonzalez will remain in California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation custody. When parole is denied, a new hearing is typically postponed for the period specified by the panel unless the governor steps in. For now, the ruling keeps this Menlo Park case effectively closed, even as it continues to raise broader questions about how parole boards weigh violent crimes against community safety.
