Atlanta judge sentences 3 in kidnapping of RI drug dealer
8:04 AM Wed, Jul 08, 2009 | Permalink
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ATLANTA (AP) -- Three men were sentenced to lengthy prison terms Tuesday for taking part in kidnapping a Rhode Island drug dealer who was chained in a suburban Atlanta basement and tortured to force payment of a $300,000 drug debt. The July 2008 abduction illustrates the type of violence that has spread into the U.S. as Mexican drug gangs compete for turf and trade, according to federal authorities. Victor Abiles Gomez, 20, and Omar Mendoza-Villegas, 19, each were sentenced to 24 years and six months in prison, and Gerardo Solorio Reyes, 23, got 26 years and seven months. The three illegal immigrants from Mexico pleaded guilty in March to federal hostage-taking and related charges. "Drug trafficking and violence go hand-in-hand. Traffickers will take extreme measures in order to protect their drugs and money," said Rodney G. Benson, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta. Federal and local authorities in Gwinnett County, acting on information about a possible hostage taking, found Oscar Reynoso gagged and chained to a mattress in the unfinished basement of a house in a middle-class neighborhood of Lilburn, badly beaten and severely dehydrated. The Dominican immigrant told investigators he had been lured from Rhode Island, where he had been living, purportedly to complete a vehicle purchase with an individual identified as "Tio." He said he met Tio at a nearby fast food restaurant and rode to the house where he was ambushed in the garage by eight men with firearms, then beaten and imprisoned in the basement where he was held for almost a week. Reynoso said his captors, including Tio, contacted friends and relatives in Rhode Island in an effort to collect the drug debt of $300,000. Tio is considered to be a fugitive. Reynoso, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute at least 5 kilograms of cocaine and was sentenced to serve 3 years, 10 months in federal prison. 
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He got what he deserved!!! If you want to play a drug dealer, then don't pity the consequences.
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The war on drugs is becoming intollerable. There are so many wars... too many. When will it end so our children can live in a safe place?
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