On Nov. 17, 2014, Luis Humberto Contreras-Figueroa, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jose A. Soto to 10 years in prison and placed on 5 years of federal supervision following his sentence. Contreras-Figueroa pleaded guilty on Aug. 29, 2014, to one count of conspiracy to commit hostage-taking.
On the evening of April 12, 2010, Contreras-Figueroa, along with 5 other individuals, conspired to kidnap and hold for ransom another individual over the disappearance of 600 pounds of marijuana. Federal agents intervened and freed the bound hostage, capturing five of the six hostage-takers on scene, along with weapons that included an AK-47 semi-automatic rifle. Each of the five pleaded guilty between 2011-2012 and were sentenced to prison terms ranging up to ten years.
A warrant remained outstanding for Contreras-Figueroa, who had left the scene just before federal agents arrived and then immediately fled to Mexico. Based on tips received in February, 2014, federal agents learned that Contreras-Figueroa was back in Arizona.
Israel De La Rocha-Rivera, Angel Ochoa-Cazares, Guillermo Leon-Rivera, Oscar Contreras, and Pedro Cano Jr. were charged with 11 felony counts, including hostage taking, conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
ICE agents, working on an undercover sting operation, negotiated a deal with Leon-Rivera for 600 pounds of marijuana. On April 12, agents provided Leon-Rivera and his associates with a pick-up truck which was to be loaded with the marijuana, agreeing to pay for it once it was returned. The truck was eventually returned to the buyer empty.
Nonetheless, the five named defendants conspired to demand payment from the buyer in an act known as a “drug-rip.” They kidnapped the purported buyer that same evening at gun point. The defendants drove him to a house once owned by Contreras, now in foreclosure. They bound the buyer and beat him, and repeatedly threatened to kill him.
During the ensuing evening and early morning hours of April 13, the five defendants continued to hold the buyer hostage, making demands of the buyer’s contacts for either full payment or return of the 600 pounds of marijuana. Unbeknownst to the five defendants, however, the buyer was a confidential informant and the people the hostage takers had been communicating with all along were ICE agents. In addition, the ransom calls were tape recorded and the earlier “load” pick-up truck had been under continuous surveillance the entire day, confirming that no marijuana had ever been delivered to ICE or their undercover buyer. An ICE Special Response Team raided the house at dawn, freeing the victim and arresting the defendants.