Arizona man faces prison for role in kidnapping of illegal border crossers
A 26-year-old man whose cousin was killed by a group of illegal border crossers he tried to kidnap for ransom is facing between three and 12 1/2 years in prison after admitting Monday to participating in the kidnapping.
On March 1, Eleazar Garcia Valencia, 25, and Armando Villalobos Cervantes, 26, came across a group of border crossers near Sasabe, Deputy Pima County Attorney Casey McGinley told Pima County Superior Court Judge Teresa Godoy.
Valencia told the group he had just lost a load of marijuana and he needed to recoup the money by holding them for ransom, McGinley said.
Cervantes was with his cousin and Valencia left him in charge of the group while he relieved himself at one point, said Assistant Pima County Public Defender Margo Cowan.
Later some of the 19 crossers beat Valencia to death.
[…]