LAWFUEL – Legal News Network – R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced today that a Miami jury returned a guilty verdict against defendant Victor Calles on charges of kidnapping, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1201, and interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2312. Sentencing has been scheduled for December 11, 2006, before U.S. District Court Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks in Miami.
Calles’ three co-defendants, Joel Nurapti-Hani, Javier Santos and Jose Calles had previously pled guilty. Defendants Nurapti-Hani and Santos are scheduled to be sentenced on October 25, 2006, and defendant Jose Calles is scheduled to be sentenced on November 22, 2006, all before Judge Middlebrooks. The defendants face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment on the kidnapping conviction.
The jury found that Calles and his co-defendants kidnapped a 48-year-old Virginia Beach woman at knife point and transported her against her will to West Palm Beach, Florida, where she was eventually rescued. The defendants, who were members of the violent street gang MS-13, fled Virginia Beach following a shooting involving a MS-13 associate.
United States Attorney Acosta commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the West Palm Beach Police Department for the rescue of the victim and their joint investigative efforts. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nancy Quinlan-Vorpe and Scott Ray.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls . Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/ or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov/ .
