The 15th Penal Judge of the Reclusorio Preventivo Norte sentenced four subjects to prison for 385 years for using taxis to illegally retain victims and violently take their belongings, the Mexico City State Attorney General’s Office said.
Raúl Villalpando Cruz, Jovani Román Maldonado Miranda, Ismael Pérez Miranda and Israel Avelino Hernández were found guilty of denying personal freedom during taxi kidnappings.
Villalpano Cruz was sentenced to 175 years in prison and fined 986,580 pesos ($54,166). Román Maldonado was sentenced to 35 years and charged 201,870 pesos. Pérez Miranda was sentenced to 105 years in prison and fined 590,430 pesos and Avelino Hernández has 70 years in prison and was charged 388,560 pesos.
The kidnappers used taxis to pick up their victims and then forced them to hand over bank information and personal belongings. The taxi drivers then set their victims free.
The four drivers were determined to be related to at least seven previous crimes.
