Honduran Man Charged with Kidnapping and Holding for Ransom Guatemalan National Who Entered the U.S. Illegally

RIVERSIDE, California - A Honduran national illegally living in New Mexico has been indicted for allegedly conspiring to kidnap a Guatemalan man who had illegally entered the United States and then demanded ransom from the victim's family living in Southern California, the Justice Department announced today.

Darwin Jeovany Palma Pastrana, 30, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of kidnapping, one count of interstate communication containing a demand or request for ransom, and one count of making a threat by interstate communication.

Palma, whom federal authorities arrested in New Mexico on August 21, was arraigned Friday afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and a November 5 trial date was scheduled. He remains jailed without bond.

According to an indictment that a federal grand jury returned on September 4, Palma and co-defendant Eduar Isrrael Sauceda Nuñez, 25, another Honduran national illegally living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, conspired with others to kidnap and hold for ransom migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Once the migrants were in the U.S., they were driven to stash houses in Phoenix, El Paso, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Once at these locations, the migrants' cellphones were seized and were not returned to them. At one stash house in Albuquerque, 57 migrants were located.

Palma and his accomplices lived near the stash houses and kept large sums of cash and firearms available. Sauceda and other co-conspirators drove migrants to various locations, including Los Angeles, to reunite them with their family and friends.

Specifically, on April 1, Palma told Sauceda that one victim, a Guatemalan national who had entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico, that he had to pay $1,500 before being released to his family. Sauceda then ordered the victim to contact a family member to meeting a Jack in the Box restaurant parking lot in Norwalk. At this parking lot meeting, Sauceda locked the victim inside the car and demanded a $1,500 ransom payment from the victim's relative before driving away with the victim inside the car.

Later that day, Palma contacted the victim's relative and said unless $1,500 was paid, the victim would be returned to Mexico and Palma suggested the victim would be killed there. Sauceda then returned to the Jack in the Box parking lot, believing the victim's relative would pay the ransom. Instead, law enforcement was nearby and later pulled over and arrested Sauceda. As he was being pulled over, Sauceda placed approximately $9,290 in cash, as well as receipts memorializing money transfers to individuals outside of the United States, in the center console of his car before he was arrested. On April 2, Palma sent messages via WhatsApp to the victim's relative, threatening to kill her.

In April and May of 2024, Palma's cellphone was present near the Albuquerque stash house, where he drove a yellow school bus with a non-resident permit issued to him to and from the location.

On May 20, when law enforcement approached the Albuquerque stash house to investigate a kidnapping complaint, one co-conspirator drove up to the house and appeared to point at officers while another conspirator fired multiple gunshots in the vicinity of the home.

On May 21, a yellow school bus registered to Palma was parked at the Albuquerque house when law enforcement found 57 undocumented migrants being detained there.

Sauceda, who is a fugitive, is charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of kidnapping, one count of one count of interstate communication containing a demand or request for ransom, and one count of transportation of aliens within the United States for private financial gain.

"These defendants allegedly helped to smuggle migrants and then take advantage of them by demanding ransom from the victims' families to secure their release," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. "We will use our powerful tools to hold accountable those who use violence to profit off of vulnerable victims."

"Everyone in this country who is a victim of a serious crime is protected by U.S. law and this case is no exception," said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. "The exploitation of vulnerable individuals and their families will be fully investigated by the FBI and its law enforcement partners. Eduar Isrrael Sauceda Nuñez is still wanted for this crime, and we ask that anyone with information as to his whereabouts to contact the FBI or the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate."

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted, Palma and Saucedo would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

This matter was investigated by the FBI's San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Task Force (SGVSSTF), which is comprised of agents and officers with the FBI, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department - Major Crimes Bureau/Prison Gang Unit and Custody Investigative Services/Operation Safe Jails, the Pomona Police Department, the El Monte Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The Pomona Police Department is the sponsoring agency of the SGVSSTF and has been the headquarters for the task force since its inception in 2008.

Assistant United States Attorney Sara B. Vargas of the Violent and Organized Crime Section is prosecuting this case.

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