Smuggler Convicted of Hostage-Taking Plot

A teenage member of an immigrant smuggling ring who was accused of raping two women being held for ransom in a Canoga Park drop house pleaded guilty Thursday in Los Angeles federal court.

Obed Estudillo Martinez, 17, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge George H. King to a charge of conspiring to commit hostage-taking.

He is expected to be sentenced April 23 to 121 months in federal custody.

According to court documents, Martinez worked as a guide and guard for the Mexican smuggling ring operated by Mario Arenas Morales.

Typically, immigrants were smuggled across the border, driven to the Los Angeles area and held hostage until their friends or relatives in the United States paid for their release.

Prosecutors said Arenas ordered Martinez to rape the two women and to severely beat two men being held at the drop house when they could not raise a $1,200-a-head ransom.

Afterward, Arenas directed Martinez to dump the women off in a remote desert location. Instead, prosecutors said, he left them in a populated area where they were able to get help.

In September, a federal jury convicted Arenas and five other ring members. They face possible life prison terms. A sixth defendant was acquitted.