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News

July 31, 2009

ALL DEFENDANTS PLEAD GUILTY TO ARMED KIDNAPPING IN MANTECA

FRESNO–Acting United States Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced today that JUSTO MATA BUSTOS, age 27, of Parlier, California and FERNANDO ESPANA RUBIO, age 21, of Madera, pled guilty today before United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to kidnapping and brandishing a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. On July 17, 2009, the third defendant, DIANA TERAN, age 30, of Madera, California, pled guilty to kidnapping.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Duce Rice and Kevin P. Rooney, who are
prosecuting the case, all three defendants admitted that the victim was lured to a motel and taken captive at gunpoint as part of a plan to steal his jewelry store’s inventory. The defendants took the captive victim away from the motel in the victim’s own car. The victim jumped from the car when he saw a Manteca Police Department officer and a high speed chase ensued with defendants BUSTOS and RUBIO throwing handguns out the car’s windows before they were captured.

Acting United States Attorney Lawrence G. Brown stated, “This successful prosecution was the result of the Manteca Police Department’s superlative response to an emergency situation followed by a coordinated and cooperative investigation by that Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.”

All three defendants are in custody. BUSTOS and RUBIO’s sentencing is scheduled for October 8, 2009. TERAN’s sentencing is scheduled for October 2, 2008. All three defendants face potential sentences of life imprisonment for kidnapping. Defendants BUSTOS and RIOS face a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years consecutive and a maximum of life imprisonment for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. However, the actual sentences will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables, and any applicable statutory sentencing factors.

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For more information on federal criminal defense law, contact the Law Offices of Joseph Shemaria of Los Angeles, California.