TEXAS
Daryl Henry, 24, and Pablo Ceniceros-Deleon, 19, plead guilty Thursday for targeting gay men for violent crimes, including robbery and kidnapping, officials stated.
Pablo Ceniceros-Deleon plead guilty to one count of hate crime act, one count of carjacking, and one count of using of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
“Kidnappings, carjackings, thefts, sexual assaults, and armed, violent attacks against innocent 
people are heinous crimes, and when perpetrators commit those crimes against victims because of their sexual orientation, the U.S. Department of Justice will continue zealously to seek justice for the victims and to punish the perpetrators to the full extent of the law,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “Prosecuting those who commit such monstrous acts because of victims’ sexual orientation is a priority of the Department of Justice, and we will continue to bring to justice anyone who commits such hateful, violent crimes.”
“These defendants used Grindr to single out their victim based on sexual orientation – something the Northern District of Texas simply will not tolerate,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox for the Northern District of Texas. “Unfortunately, this is not the first time a dating app user has fallen victim to a violent crime. I’m urging the public to be vigilant about the dangers lurking online.”
According to court documents, both Henry and Ceniceros-Deleon admitted Grindr was used, a social media dating platform primarily used by gay men, to lure gay men to a vacant apartment and other areas in and around Dallas for robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, and hate crimes.
Henry admitted that he and others held the victims against their will in the vacant apartment. Ceniceros-Deleon admitted that he and others traveled to local ATMs to withdraw cash from the victims’ accounts.
Both Henry and Ceniceros-Deleon admitted that while the victims were being held captive they were subjected to taunts based upon the co-conspirators’ perception of the men’s sexual orientation.
In addition, Ceniceros-Deleon admitted to being the gunman in a Dec. 7, 2017, carjacking where he and others used Grindr to lure a man to a location and then forced the man, at gunpoint, to drive the conspirators to local ATMs to withdraw cash from the man’s account.
In March of 2019, Michael Atkinson pleaded guilty to conspiracy and kidnapping charges in connection with this case. Atkinson will be sentenced in February of 2020.
Sentencing for Ceniceros-Deleon is scheduled for April 1, according to officials.
DOJ NOTED:
The FBI’s Dallas Field Office conducted the federal investigation; a separate criminal investigation is being conducted by the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Dana of the Northern District of Texas along with Special Litigation Counsel Rose E. Gibson and Trial Attorney Kathryn Gilbert of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.