61°
The man in the photo, Joel Ramon Garcia, 33, of Paterson, and an accomplice had held him at gunpoint last month during a six-hour car ride to Massachusetts, while demanding a ransom from his father, before releasing the victim two days later, the FBI said.
Federal agents quickly captured both Garcia and Julio Cesar Paniagua, 27, at the same time.
Credit the victim's assistance and some sound detective work.
It began on Nov. 15, when the victim's father contacted Paterson police. His son had just called to say he'd been kidnapped, he said, and he'd have to pay $30,000 for his boy's safe return.
The father received a second call hours later at Paterson police headquarters, this time from a man who said he knew the authorities were involved.
The anonymous caller then threatened to chop off his son's fingers if he didn't pay up, police said.
Then the feds joined in.
According to an FBI complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark, the agents traced the son's cellphone from Paterson between 5:30-6 a.m. to Dedham, Massachusetts just before midnight.
They then obtained a list of all cell numbers connected to specific towers in each location over the six hours that they said it took to drive from New Jersey to Massachusetts.
Only two numbers came up at both towers, the FBI said: one for the victim's phone and a second that was traced directly to Garcia.
The victim was released sometime after midnight Friday, Nov. 17, according to the complaint. He drove himself back to New Jersey and made it home between 4-5 a.m., it says.
He immediately spoke with the agents, telling them that he'd been abducted by "multiple individuals" two nights earlier. They were armed, he said.
The agents showed the victim a photo array that, of course, included Garcia. Then the dominoes began to fall.
Whether the victim was released because the ransom was paid or for some other reason federal authorities won't yet say. They were confident, however, that they got the right men.
That same day, in fact, agents swore out a criminal complaint against Garcia. A federal judge sealed it pending an arrest.
That came three days later, on Nov. 20, when the agents nabbed Garcia. Turns out Paniagua was with him.
Two birds, one stone, as they say.
The FBI held onto Garcia. Meanwhile, U.S. Customs & Immigration Enforcement agents took custody of Paniagua for deportation proceedings.
In an interview with the FBI on Dec. 7, Paniagua admitted going to the target's house and finding him sitting in his car, the complaint says
Paniagua told the agents he walked past the residence several times, then climbed into the back seat of the victim's car, it says. He held a gun, he said, as he, Garcia and the victim drove to Massachusetts.
The kidnappers returned to Paterson after releasing the victim two days later, according to the complaint. It doesn't specify how they got there.
In separate hearings on consecutive days, federal judges in Newark ordered this week that both men remain in federal custody. The FBI is currently continuing its investigation of the kidnapping while ICE explores deporting Paniagua.
Sellinger, for his part, credited members of the FBI’s New Jersey field office with the investigation leading to the arrests and charges. He also thanked members of the FBI’s Boston field office, as well as police in Paterson, Clifton and Cedar Grove, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney John Maloy of Sellinger's General Crimes Unit in Newark.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Vineland and receive free news updates.
