LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury Tuesday returned a four-count indictment against a man as well as his sister and son, alleging they were all involved in a kidnapping scheme in which the father pretended to act as an intermediary between the hostage’s family and the hostage takers while his son and sister crossed the border into the U.S. to collect the ransom money.
Rosarito, Mexico, residents Mario Alex “Shyboy” Medina, 53; his son, Jose Salud “Gordo” Medina, 31; and Maria Alejandra Medina, 50, who is Mario Medina’s sister and Jose Medina’s aunt, are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking and one count of conspiracy to demand a ransom payment
Mario and Jose Medina also are each charged with one count of making a foreign communication with intent to extort. Maria Medina has been in federal custody since March 26 and is currently jailed without bond. Her arraignment is scheduled for April 16 in U.S. District Court.
Mario Medina made his initial appearance Monday in U.S. District Court in Bakersfield and has a detention hearing scheduled there for Thursday.
Jose Medina is incarcerated in Mexico.
According to the indictment, on Nov. 5, 2022, Mario Medina directed and helped accomplices break into the house of a neighbor, identified in court documents as “R.V.,” kidnapping the victim at gunpoint, pistol whipping him and firing a gun near his head.
The next day, one of the co-conspirators placed a ransom call to the victim’s family in Los Angeles County and demanded $70,000 for his release while also using WhatsApp to send a video of the victim being beaten, the indictment states.
Jose Medina allegedly telephoned a relative of R.V. and threatened to kill the victim if his family did not pay $30,000, the indictment states. Later that day, Mario Medina, pretending to be an intermediary between R.V.’s family and the hostage takers, allegedly told the victim’s family to meet at a McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro to make the ransom payment.
Jose and Maria Medina allegedly met the victim’s family the next day at the eatery, where they collected the ransom payment and took it with them to Mexico.
Mexican law enforcement personnel found R.V. on Nov. 11, 2022, tied up and alone in a small, subterranean trench, the indictment states.
If convicted of all charges, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
