2 men sentenced in immigrant-hostage case
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Aug. 31, 2009 03:28 PM




TUCSON - Two Mexican men have been given federal prison sentences for holding 31 illegal immigrants hostage at a Tucson home at gunpoint, demanding more money for being smuggled across the Arizona border.

Prosecutors say 34-year-old Victor Sauceda-Parra of Culiacan, Sinaloa, was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison while 36-year-old Jaime Figueroa-Lopez of Guanajuato was given a 12-year sentence.


They say the two men both pleaded guilty to hostage taking and other charges in May.

Tucson police officers responded to a report that illegal immigrants were being held hostage at a suspected drop house on March 31. Assault rifles and other weapons were later recovered from the house after a police raid.

Authorities say the hostages identified Sauceda-Parra as being the leader of the smugglers and Figueroa-Lopez as one of the guards who carried an assault rifle.

Two other co-defendants in the case await sentencing and another has yet to be tried.

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