Romance Scammer Who Took U.S. Citizens Hostage in the Dominican Republic Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Press Release

Defendant Used Dating App to Lure Three Separate Victims

WASHINGTON - Deivy Jose Rodriguez Delgado, 30, a Venezuelan national, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to 25 years in federal prison for the 2022 armed hostage takings of three U.S. citizens in the Dominican Republic, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the Miami Field Office.

On December 11, 2023, after a nearly two week trial, a jury convicted Delgado of one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking and three counts of hostage taking. In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Court Chief Judge James E. Boasberg ordered Delgado to serve five years of supervised release. Following his release from prison, Delgado will be subject to deportation proceedings.

According to the government's evidence, Delgado, also known as "Sebastian," kidnapped three men in separate instances between July 5 and July 30, 2022. In each of the three hostage-takings, Delgado lured his victim online with the promise of a friendly "date" and picked the victim up in his car. After driving a short distance, Delgado suddenly stopped to let an accomplice into the backseat, at which point Delgado and his accomplice held the victim at knifepoint, physically restrained the victim, and demanded ransom for his release. Delgado ordered that the ransoms be paid to online banking accounts, including the same CashApp account.

Each of the three victims was forced at knifepoint to call his friends and family and ask for money to secure his release. The victims were held in captivity by Delgado and his accomplice(s) for up to an hour and were only released after Delgado believed a ransom payment had been made by the victims' friends and family. In all three hostage takings, the victims were also robbed of their personal belongings before being released on the streets of the Dominican Republic.

Following multiple victim reports, Dominican authorities began an investigation in August 2022. Local law enforcement in the Dominican Republic traced a vehicle used in one of the hostage takings to Delgado and arrested him on Sept. 14, 2022. During a search of the vehicle, Dominican authorities found two serrated knifes like those used in the hostage takings. On Oct. 4, 2022, Dominican authorities transferred Delgado to U.S. custody.

This case was investigated by the FBI's Miami Field Office with valuable assistance provided by the Division Especial de Investigacion de Crimen Organizado Internacional (DECROI). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Korba and Jolie Zimmerman of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia with assistance from paralegal Michael Watts.

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Deivy Jose Rodriguez Delgado, 30, a Venezuelan national, used this image of himself to meet his victims on a social media dating application.

During a search of the vehicle linked to Delgado, Dominican authorities found two serrated knifes like those used in the hostage takings.

An image Delgado used on his social media app to lure victims.

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Updated November 4, 2024