MISSION, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Three men were sentenced in the mistaken kidnapping of a Mission man who was taken into Mexico and murdered, authorities announced.
Roel Garza and Orlando Hernandez of Rio Grande City, were sentenced to three years of supervised release after being credited with 10 years of time served, records show.
Jose Guadalupe Garza-Ochoa, a Mexican citizen, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Jose Lorenzo Davila, who was also indicted on kidnapping charges in the crime, is scheduled to be sentenced June 12.
According to a 2013 news release from the FBI, the men were arrested in early July 2013 in connection to the kidnapping.
The release stated the men were involved in the kidnapping of a Mission man, which was carried out in retaliation to a theft of more than 200 pounds of cocaine that was tied to the Gulf Cartel.
On May 28, 2011, the victim was driving with his wife to a home in Mission when three vehicles simultaneously arrived, including a white Ford Truck. The group intended to kidnap the man believed to have stolen the cocaine, but mistakenly took the victim who happened to be visiting the home that day.
The driver, identified as Gerardo Villarreal, of Roma, claimed to be a police officer and the victim was placed in the back of the truck and handcuffed by Davila.
The victim’s wife believed he was placed under arrest and called local law enforcement, who informed her there was no such arrest and that he was not in their custody.
“The victim was allegedly struck, blindfolded, gagged, and bound with duct tape, thereby immobilizing his arms and legs, and initially taken to a ranch in the Mission/Alton area,” the release stated.
Authorities said that after the kidnapping, several of the suspects became aware that they had actually kidnapped the wrong person.
The victim was identified in court documents as Ovidio Olivares Guerrero.
Despite that, the victim was transported in the trunk of a vehicle to the Rio Grande in a Ford Focus by Garza-Ochoa and Alan Alpizar Cordoba, where he was crossed into Mexico and murdered, authorities stated.
“The victim was a permanent resident of the U.S. with no criminal record and had no involvement in the theft or sale of cocaine,” the FBI stated.