Immigrant smuggler gets 57 years in Tucson case

The Associated Press Arizona Daily Star
September 23, 2010 2:45 pm

A Mexican man has been sentenced to decades in prison for his role in holding 31 people hostage at a Tucson drop house.

U.S. District Court Judge Frank Zapata sentenced 41-year-old Paulino Rios Ledesma of Culiacan, Mexico, to 57 years in prison Wednesday.

The sentence was handed down after a jury found Rios-Ledesma guilty last April of 10 counts ranging from hostage taking to firearms violations.

Tucson police freed the illegal immigrants from the drop house on March 31, 2009, and arrested Rios-Ledesma and four other men suspected of being hostage takers.

The hostages claimed they were held at gunpoint at the Tucson drop house for up to 15 days and their original smuggling fee of $1,000 to $1,500 was raised to $2,800 to $3,300 per person.

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