{"id":53348,"date":"2023-06-13T17:19:48","date_gmt":"2023-06-14T00:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=53348"},"modified":"2023-06-13T17:19:48","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T00:19:48","slug":"nyc-man-guilty-of-abducting-elderly-woman-with-dementia-attempting-to-obstruct-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=53348","title":{"rendered":"NYC Man Guilty of Abducting Elderly Woman with Dementia, Attempting to Obstruct Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A New York man was found guilty by a judge Tuesday of federal criminal charges stemming from his abduction of a 68-year-old woman with dementia at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center in July 2021, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Johnny Ray Gasca, 53, of Bronx, New York, was found guilty of one count of kidnapping, two counts of attempted obstruction of justice, and one count of attempted witness tampering.\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 United States District Judge Andr\u00e9 Birotte Jr. entered the verdict Tuesday after a six-day bench trial.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to evidence presented at trial, Gasca kidnapped the victim at approximately 8:30 a.m. on July 19, 2021, after attempting to obtain a medical appointment at the VA facility.<\/span><\/p>\n

A long-time friend accompanied the victim, and as the two of them \u201capproached their car, Gasca appeared unexpectedly,\u201d according to court documents. \u201cGasca put his arms around [the victim] and pushed her toward a gold-colored pickup truck that was parked nearby. Gasca then picked [the victim] up and threw her into the rear portion of the truck\u2019s passenger compartment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After the Department of Veteran Affairs Police Department contacted the FBI later in the morning, the victim\u2019s friend told agents she recognized Gasca, believed he previously was in some kind of relationship with the victim, and suspected Gasca may have taken some of [the victim\u2019s] money from her bank and retirement accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The witness also reported that the victim previously noted she was missing some of her credit cards. When the two went to the victim\u2019s bank to review her accounts, bank records showed a $35,000 withdrawal from the victim\u2019s retirement account, followed by several Venmo, MoneyGram, and PayPal transactions that the friend believed the victim did not have \u201cthe knowledge or wherewithal\u201d to conduct, court documents state.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Within hours of beginning its investigation, the FBI located the victim\u2019s phone at The Dixie Hollywood Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard, where agents converged. <\/span><\/p>\n

Soon after, Gasca and the victim exited the hotel, leading to Gasca\u2019s arrest.<\/span><\/p>\n

During an interview recounted in court documents, Gasca described the victim as his girlfriend and told agents that, after leaving the VA facility, they stopped at a bank where the victim made a $15,000 withdrawal.<\/span><\/p>\n

After his arrest and while in pre-trial custody, Gasca made several jail calls to a friend in New York, asking him to destroy evidence of his wrongdoing with the victim, according to evidence presented at the trial. <\/span><\/p>\n

Gasca urged the friend to erase all his messages on the Facebook Messenger app, including messages describing the victim as a \u201cGolden goose.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In August 2021, Gasca made another jailhouse phone call to his friend and told him to collect his hard drives from his apartment before the FBI could seize them and learn of his financial exploitation of the victim.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judge Birotte found Gasca not guilty of one count of interference with commerce by extortion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judge Birotte scheduled a September 29 sentencing hearing. Gasca is facing up to life in federal prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

The FBI investigated this matter and received substantial assistance from the VA Police Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin B. Reidy of the Major Frauds Section and Kathy Yu of the Violent and Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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