A resident of Southern California has confessed to being part of a network that abducted migrants and extorted ransom from the victims' relatives in exchange for their release.
A 24-year-old resident of Hemet, Riverside County, Miguel Ángel Ávila, pleaded guilty to a federal charge in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday.
Ávila, as outlined in his culpability agreement, led a human trafficking network based in Hemet, which was comprised of four other individuals implicated in the scheme. The network allegedly facilitated the transfer of over 100 undocumented migrants who entered the United States without proper immigration documentation.
Authorities have reported that certain migrants were being held against their will, with the criminal group involved demanding ransom payments from the migrants' relatives in exchange for their safe release.
A federal court has convicted Ávila of multiple charges related to kidnapping and migrant trafficking, with the offenses being committed for financial gain.
Court records indicate that Ávila and two alleged co-conspirators forcibly confined three undocumented migrants in a motel room within Los Angeles County on March 22, 2023.
A migrant being held captive managed to flee the scene by escaping through a bathroom window on the second floor of the room where they were being detained.
Prosecutors alleged that Ávila and a member of a migrant trafficking organization gave chase to the individual after he fled and eventually arrived at the business where he had sought assistance.
According to the culpability agreement, Ávila physically assaulted a man within the store, causing him to be restrained by the neck, and subsequently subjected to repeated blows to the face.
Following the police notification, Ávila and the woman returned to the motel to collect their belongings, subsequently departing the premises with their accomplices and releasing the two remaining migrants.
Ávila relocated the two kidnapped migrants from the motel to a different location in Los Angeles, utilizing the services of Airbnb to rent a new residence, with the assistance of her accomplices.
Two individuals were held in custody until their family members paid a ransom, after which they were reportedly released as quickly as possible.
On March 23, Ávila dispatched two associates to relocate one migrant to a service station in San Bernardino County.
A ransom of $11,000 in cash was paid by the kidnapped man's brother in an effort to secure the release of his family.
Prosecutors alleged that the payment was a component of an extortion scheme orchestrated by the criminal group, through which they coerced relatives of their kidnapped victims into making financial payments.
Ávila accepted responsibility for her role in a conspiracy involving the transportation of individuals entering the United States without proper immigration documentation, as well as the transfer of migrants for personal financial gain, in addition to her previously established guilt in the kidnapping charge.
The prosecutor has agreed to propose a maximum 20-year prison term, contingent upon the court's acceptance of the defendant's guilty plea.
