5 Smugglers Sentenced in Immigrant Ransom Scheme

Five smugglers who held illegal immigrants captive at gunpoint in a Costa Mesa apartment and demanded money for their release were sentenced Thursday to federal prison, authorities said.

The five smugglers, all Mexican nationals, were arrested in November 1996 after some of their prisoners escaped and called police.

The smugglers brought 14 illegal immigrants to a Hamilton Street apartment after each of the immigrants had agreed to pay $400. When the armed smugglers demanded that the immigrants call relatives to pay more money, six of the captives refused, police said.

After two days in captivity, one of the six was pistol-whipped and five others were bound and blindfolded, and all were then loaded into a stolen van, police said. The victims told police they believed they were being taken to a remote area to be abandoned or killed.

At some point, the van stopped and the smugglers got out, allowing one of the prisoners to gain control of the vehicle and drive the captives to safety at El Toro Marine Corps Station.

The leader of the smuggling ring, Arturo Rivera-Gallegos, 26, was sentenced Thursday to 37 months in prison by U.S. District Chief Judge W. Matthew Byrne Jr., prosecutors said.

The four others, each sentenced to two years on conspiracy charges, are Aureliano Marin-Ramirez, 22; Fernando Morales-Macedo, 20; Roberto Diaz-Delgado, 38; and Martin Gamez-Tzopitl, whose age was not available.

A juvenile arrested with the group will be deported to his native Mexico, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. David S. Lavine.