3 men indicted in drop house case
January 6th, 2009 @ 3:56pm
by KTAR.com

County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced Tuesday that three men have been indicted in connection with a drop house raid on Dec. 26.

Cesar Antonio Acosta, 31, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, 30, and Jonathan Manuel Castellanos, 24, were indicted on charges of kidnapping, armed robbery, theft by extortion and smuggling.

Gonzalez was also charged with three counts of sexual assault.

Investigators and a DPS SWAT team entered the home of the smugglers after receiving a tip from a woman who claimed her husband was being held for ransom.

Authorities found a number of illegal immigrant hostages in the house, all of whom had recently been smuggled into Arizona.

The hostages identified the three smugglers for investigators. One woman reported that she'd been raped by Gonzalez at gunpoint.

"In addition to holding human smugglers accountable for illegally bringing people into Arizona, we must also hold them accountable when they victimize illegal immigrants," Thomas said in press release. "All crime victims deserve justice."

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