Men at Center of Kidnapping and Smuggling Conspiracy Arrested

Press Release

Defendants Kidnapped Two Women, Demanded Ransom, Instigated Shootout in Charlottesville's Belmont Neighborhood

CHARLOTTESVILLE - A federal grand jury returned an indictment last week charging a pair of men with federal conspiracy and kidnapping charges stemming from a fatal shooting in Charlottesville's Belmont neighborhood in January of 2023.

Ricardo Franco-Ordaz, 26, of Cedar Creek, Texas, and Jordan Joseph Perez, 20, of Lockhart, Texas, were arrested this week in Texas. Each are charged with one count of conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, conspiracy to transport an alien resulting in death, transporting an alien resulting in death, and conspiracy to receive money in connection with a kidnapping.

According to court documents, in early January of 2023, Franco-Ordaz, Perez, and other co-conspirators planned the kidnapping of multiple victims for ransom. In furtherance of their kidnapping and extortion scheme, they transported victims from Texas to Virginia, where subsequently, an argument and shootout arose that resulted in the death of a member of the criminal organization.

As part of the scheme, Franco-Ordaz arranged to pick up two victims from an area near the United States-Mexico border and bring them to a house near Austin, Texas. Once there, Ordaz, and others, held both victims against their will and under armed guard, then called and messaged the victims' family and friends demanding cash in exchange for their release.

Franco-Ordaz exchanged one of the victims in Texas for $5,000 cash, and on January 8, 2023, Perez and another co-conspirator transported another victim to Charlottesville, Virginia where they arranged to exchange that victim for $10,000 in cash. However, when the exchange was set to occur, it was revealed that the full $10,000 was not available. Subsequently, an argument and shootout arose that resulted in the death of one of the kidnappers.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh and Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. made the announcement.

Homeland Security Investigations in Harrisonburg, Virginia is investigating the case with assistance from the Charlottesville Police Department, Albemarle County Police Department and HSI Austin, Texas.

The investigation, extradition, and conviction of these defendants is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melanie Smith and Sally J. Sullivan are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated September 7, 2024