A $11,000 payment to secure a hostage’s release was made on March 23, 2023, according to KESQ’s account of Miguel Angel Avila’s plea agreement. Avila had directed two co-defendants to take the hostage to a San Bernardino County gas station, where the victim’s brother provided the cash.
The payment followed an incident the previous day. KESQ reported that Avila and two co-defendants brought three undocumented migrants to a Los Angeles County motel room. One person got out through a second-floor bathroom window and reached a nearby store.
Avila and a female co-conspirator pursued the man to the store. As described in the plea agreement cited by KESQ, Avila knocked him down, held him by the neck and struck him repeatedly. Avila and others later took the hostages to another location in Los Angeles, where they remained until their families paid ransom, the outlet reported.
The plea agreement, as reported by KESQ, describes Avila as the leader of a Hemet-based smuggling operation that transported more than 100 people who had entered the United States unlawfully. Avila, 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Los Angeles to kidnapping and other federal charges, including conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and transporting illegal aliens for private financial gain. He was one of five defendants charged in the case. Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than 20 years; sentencing is set for February 18.
The original indictment alleged two counts each of conspiracy to commit hostage taking and hostage taking, and conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping, along with one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and two counts of transporting illegal aliens for private financial gain, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Co-defendant Omar Avila Salmeron, 43, of South Los Angeles, also pleaded guilty before the same judge and is scheduled to be sentenced February 18, KESQ reported.
