COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA
A federal judge sentenced Ruben Ceja-Rangel, a Mexican national, to 56 years in prison after Ceja-Rangel was convicted Oct. 23 of seven charges related to the armed abduction of a man in 2014, officials announced this week.
Ceja-Rangel, 59, was convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, substantive kidnapping, hostage taking, brandishing firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence, lying the FBI, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Evidence indicated that Ceja-Rangel had been convicted of Importation of Marijuana in a federal court in Texas, officials said.
Ceja-Rangel traveled from his home in Groveland, Florida, in early June or July of 2014, for the purpose of conspiring with Luis Castro-Villeda , 24, and Juan Fuentes-Morales, 27,to kidnap the victim from St. Mathews, South Carolina, according to authorities.
The evidence showed that the victim was forcibly taken from his truck in the early morning hours of July 14, 2014 at gunpoint by Ceja-Rangel.
Ceja-Rangel and another co-defendant then blindfolded and transported the victim to a residence near Garland, NC, where the victim was held for several hours at gunpoint.
The victim testified that at one point, he attempted to escape and Juan Fuentes-Morales struck him and pointed a .25 caliber gun at the victim’s head. Around 8:00 pm, the victim was moved from Garland to a residence located near Rosoboro, NC on Highway 210, the evidence showed.
While held at the second location, the victim was blindfolded and chained to a workout bench, where he was made to lay on the floor from July 9, 2014, until his rescue by the FBI on July 15, 2014.
In the early morning hours of July 15, 2014, the Charlotte, NC FBI SWAT Team executed a search warrant at the Highway 210 residence near Roseboro. When the SWAT team made entry, they located the victim chained up and blindfolded on the floor.
Ruben Ceja-Rangel attempted to run out of the back of the residence but he was quickly detained by FBI Charlotte SWAT operators.
Before locating the victim, Operators with the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team executed a search warrant at 5300 block of Old Fayetteville Road, Garland NC.
During the search, agents located a cellular phone that Fuentes-Morales used during the kidnapping to communicate with individuals in Mexico who were demanding a ransom for the victim’s return. Agents also located a .25 caliber pistol that Fuentes-Morales had used to hold the victim during his initial abduction on July 9, 2014.
Evidence presented at trial proved that the victim’s father owed a drug debt to members of a Mexican drug cartel, related to the father’s inability to sell over 200 pounds of marijuana.
Jurors heard multiple phone calls that were recorded by FBI hostage negotiators, wherein the Mexican drug traffickers threatened to gouge out the victim’s eyes and ultimately kill him if the father did not pay the ransom.
U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles stated that “this case is the perfect example of how drug trafficking leads to violent crime and brings the real life violence associated with Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations to the United States. The continued commitment to the war on drugs is the only way to ensure that Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations know that the United States Government and the FBI will do whatever it takes to ensure that lives are not lost as a result of drug trafficking and the violence associated with it.”