Two Chula Vista residents received federal prison terms Monday for their involvement in a bogus kidnapping ring in which Latino families were called and told to pay a ransom even though their loved ones had not been kidnapped.
Ruth Graciela Raygoza, 64, of Chula Vista, was sentenced to 40 months in prison and ordered to pay $97,660 in restitution to families who were called and paid money. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Castillo urged a 51-month term in court papers.
Adrian Jovan Rocha, 27, of Chula Vista, received 21 months in prison and was ordered to pay $30,785 to victims by U.S. District Court Judge Jeff Miller.
Rocha formerly worked at a recreational vehicle center in Chula Vista.
His brother, Jonathan Rocha, 24, also of Chula Vista, was sentenced to the 445 days he had already served in prison since his arrest in November 2013. Miller ordered Jonathan Rocha to pay $26,953 in restitution on terms of three years probation.
The judge said Jonathan Rocha was less culpable than the others and had no criminal record. Jonathan Rocha was ordered released Monday from the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Maria Del Carmen Pulido Contreras, 43, of Los Angeles, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $35,300 in restitution.
Raygonza’s attorney wrote in court papers that she thought the scheme involved illegal smuggling of people in the U.S., not extortion or bogus kidnapping threats.
Raygoza has a prior felony conviction for an offense in 1992 for which she served four years in prison.
The defense attorneys said none of the four was involved in making any of the phone calls to 124 Latino families in the U.S.
Miller said the scheme was orchestrated by people in Mexico and the four people before him only collected the money and either delivered it or wired it to the ransom callers.
The four all pleaded guilty in July 2014 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money. Court documents say most of the victims were Latino and many could not speak English. The victims would wire or deliver the money in San Diego and Los Angeles.
“This was a cruel hoax that caused significant emotional and financial damage to a large number of people,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy in a statement Monday.
