16 Years for Salem Man in Kidnapping and Beating

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A Salem man has been sentenced to more than 16 years for robbing and beating a man with a wooden bat in a $20,000 kidnapping plot.

The Statesman-Journal reports Mario Huerta-Banuelos was sentenced Tuesday after he was convicted in February of kidnapping with the intent to injure and terrorize, and other charges.

He and wife Rosa Reyes-Castro were arrested in March 2018 by Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputies.

Court documents say Huerta-Banuelos, Reyes-Castro, and another man took the victim to a house where the victim said Huerta-Banuelos hit him with a bat 50 times, breaking his arm and knee cap.

After their joint trial, Reyes-Castro was sentenced to over seven years in prison for kidnapping and coercion.

The victim told investigators he agreed to pay $20,000 in exchange for his freedom. His kidnappers drove him to a bank, took his wallet and let him go.
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Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com