SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A San Diego man who took part in a scheme to hold migrants captive and demand ransom payments from their families -- leaving at least two migrants missing and presumed dead -- pleaded guilty to federal charges Tuesday.
Isaac Jimenez, 30, coordinated what migrants believed were operations to smuggle them from Mexico into the United States, but were actually plans to kidnap them and hold them against their will in Tijuana, according to the U.S.
Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors say that according to Jimenez's plea agreement, a man and woman were among those abducted, and they were both killed in Mexico "to the best of Jimenez's knowledge," despite their families making thousands of dollars in ransom payments.
In September 2024, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Jimenez personally collected $15,000 from the family of a kidnapped man, then delivered it to his co-conspirators in Mexico.
The kidnappers later demanded more money from the man's wife and other family members. After receiving the additional payments, they threatened to kill the man unless the family paid more, prosecutors said.
When the family could not give more money, communications with the smugglers ended, and the whereabouts of the man -- a father of four -- remain unknown, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
In December 2024, Jimenez agreed to coordinate the smuggling of a 20-year-old Tijuana woman for $7,000, prosecutors said.
Jimenez's co-conspirators then abducted the woman and demanded $30,000 from her family. The U.S. Attorney's Office said video calls made to the woman's fiancé and other family members showed the kidnappers pointing guns at her and kicking her in the head and chest.
Her family sent $10,000 to the smugglers, but she was not released.
Prosecutors say Jimenez did not personally hold the victims captive, but was aware his co-conspirators were taking part in the abductions, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
As part of his guilty plea, Jimenez has agreed to pay $24,500 to the missing migrants' families for funeral expenses and restitution for a portion of the ransom payments made.
Jimenez is slated to be sentenced in September.
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