Two defendants tied to a 2022 Metairie kidnapping and torture-for-ransom scheme have opted to cut their losses. On Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Jefferson Parish court, 22-year-old Michelle Mayorga and 25-year-old Eduardo Nunez Ponce accepted plea agreements to charges tied to the abduction and a related break-in.
A third defendant, Nilson Fredrich Ruiz, said no thanks to the deal and is due back in court on May 6. Co-defendant Ralin Americo Paca has already rolled the dice at trial and now faces lengthy prison time after being convicted.
The case reaches back to an early-morning break-in in July 2022 at an apartment in the 4100 block of Hessmer Avenue. Prosecutors say the crew forced their way inside, threatened a teenage resident and demanded about $80,000. A ransom exchange was arranged, but things spiraled into a multi-jurisdiction chase that ended on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge, where deputies recovered the teen hours later, according to Fox 8.
Plea deals, verdicts and sentences
In Jefferson Parish’s 24th Judicial District Court, Mayorga and Nunez pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree kidnapping and one count each of aggravated burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.
Court filings and records reviewed by NOLA.com show Judge Donald Rowan Jr. imposed 40-year sentences on each of the kidnapping counts and 20-year terms on the burglary charges for both Mayorga and Nunez.
Paca, who took his case to trial and was convicted, received life sentences on aggravated kidnapping counts with parole eligibility after 25 years, along with a consecutive 30-year term for burglary. In other words, he is looking at a very long stretch behind bars.
How law enforcement found the victim
Investigators with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office say the trouble started when the ransom drop did not go according to plan. The suspects allegedly fled, triggering a pursuit that cut across multiple jurisdictions before officers finally stopped the vehicle on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.
The sheriff’s office said the operation pulled in the U.S. Marshals Service and Louisiana State Police and temporarily shut down the bridge, according to WBRZ. It was the kind of closure that tends to stick in locals’ memories.
Legal notes
The defendants were initially booked on aggravated kidnapping counts. Under the plea deals, Mayorga and Nunez admitted to second-degree kidnapping and related burglary charges instead, a step down on paper but still carrying decades of prison time.
NOLA.com reports that Judge Rowan’s sentencing orders underscore how seriously prosecutors viewed the plot and note specific parole-eligibility language in Paca’s life terms.
The pleas largely clear the decks for Mayorga and Nunez, but Ruiz’s refusal keeps the case alive. At the May 6 hearing, the court is expected to sort out whether he heads to trial or holds out for a different offer. Residents who tracked the 2022 chase and the Causeway shutdown will likely be watching Jefferson Parish’s docket to see how the last chapter of this saga plays out.
