PHOENIX – A member of the notoriously violent Franco human smuggling organization has received a life prison sentence for his role in a hostage-taking incident here four years ago involving more than 50 illegal aliens who were held at gunpoint and beaten.

Jesus Medina-Nevarez, aka Pablo Medina-Nevarez, 25, of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison plus seven years by U.S. District Judge Roger G. Strand.  Medina-Nevarez was convicted last year of conspiracy, hostage taking, harboring illegal aliens, and possessing and using a firearm to commit violence.  The investigation leading to the guilty verdict and sentence was conducted by U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, and the Phoenix and Peoria Police Departments.

At the trial, tearful victims described how Medina-Nevarez and at least seven others, held them at gunpoint inside a Phoenix residence.  The aliens were beaten with fists, kicked, pistol whipped, and threatened with death.  Medina-Nevarez burned one victim’s face with a cigarette.  Other victims had plastic bags put over their heads and were beaten until they could not breath.

“The court’s sentence accurately encompasses the scope and violence that characterizes human smuggling in our state,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Paul K. Charlton. “ ICE, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, the Phoenix Police Department, and Peoria Police Department are all to be congratulated for their success in dismantling this large organized crime syndicate.”

“Human smugglers are notoriously ruthless, but this criminal organization is among the most violent and callous we have ever encountered,” said Alonzo Peña, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Arizona.  “This sentence sends a strong message to those who brutalize others in the commission of these kinds of crimes that they will be dealt with severely.  ICE will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to attack and dismantle organizations like this that put our communities at risk.”

In passing sentence, the judge found that Medina-Nevarez instigated the hostage-taking incident, that ransoms were demanded for the victims’ release, and that the victims suffered serious bodily injury.  Judge Strand described Medina-Nevarez’s behavior as “mean-spirited and brutal to an unusual high degree.” 

Medina-Navarez received concurrent ten-year terms for the harboring charges and a seven-year consecutive term for using a firearm during the hostage taking.  Medina-Nevarez is currently serving a 10 ½ year sentence for a drive-by shooting and aggravated assault convictions in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Stephen M. McNamee sentenced Fabian Franco-Saenz, 21, of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, to 280 months minus time served for his role in the same hostage-taking incident.  Franco-Saenz is currently serving a 14-year state prison sentence for raping one of the hostages.

The three remaining defendants in the case, including Ruben Franco-Plaza, who was convicted at trial with Medina-Nevarez, are set for sentencing March 6.

-- ICE --