A Hemet man who admitted his involvement in a scheme to kidnap migrants to the United States and hold them for ransom pleaded guilty this week to federal charges.
Miguel Angel Avila, 24, was among five defendants charged in the case.
He pleaded guilty Wednesday, Oct. 21 in a Los Angeles courtroom to kidnapping and other federal counts, including conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and transporting illegal aliens for private financial gain.
Prosecutors agreed to recommend a prison sentence of no more than 20 years.
Avila was the leader of a human-smuggling ring operating out of Hemet that transported more than 100 people who crossed into the U.S. unlawfully, according to his plea agreement.
On March 22, 2023, Avila and two co-defendants moved three undocumented migrants to a motel room in Los Angeles County, where they were held against their will, according to documents filed in federal court.
One migrant escaped from the second-story motel room through a bathroom window and ran to a nearby store, prosecutors said. Avila and a female co-conspirator chased him to the store, where Avila body-slammed the migrant to the ground, placed him in a chokehold and punched him repeatedly in the face, according to the plea agreement.
When police were called, Avila and his accomplice returned to the motel, gathered their belongings and left with the two other hostages, prosecutors said.
Avila and the accomplices took the hostages to elsewhere in Los Angeles, where they were held against their will until their families paid ransom.
On March 23, 2023, Avila sent two co-defendants to transport one of the hostages to a gas station in San Bernardino County, where the man’s brother handed over $11,000 in cash in exchange for the victim’s release.
Also Wednesday, co-defendant Omar Avila Salmeron, 43, of South Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to federal charges before the same judge and is also set to be sentenced on Feb. 18.