Man admits to kidnapping girl from SC family after helping smuggle her into US
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said a Guatemalan man pleaded guilty to kidnapping and illegal transportation of an alien minor following two days of trial in federal court.
According to federal officials, evidence during a trial revealed that in Oct. of 2022, Bernardino de Jesus Ramirez-Ramirez, 35, paid for a 16-year-old girl to be smuggled into the U.S. from Guatemala.
The DOJ stated that Ramirez instructed the girl to turn herself in to immigration officials after she crossed the border and provide them his name and contact information as the person who was supposed to receive her. The girl was taken into the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s custody and placed in a shelter for unaccompanied alien children.
The shelter learned that the girl was not related to Ramirez and determined that he posed a risk of labor trafficking and was not a suitable sponsor for the minor. The Department of Justice said as a result, the girl was released to an uncle in South Carolina in March of 2023.
During a forensic examination of Ramirez’s phone, the DOJ said he was fixated on gaining control over the minor. For months, he exchanged messages with members of the minor’s family regarding her smuggling debt and indicating he would do whatever it took to get her back into his custody.
Officials said that on April 5, 2023, Ramirez drove from Missouri to the victim’s home in South Carolina and told her that if she did not come with him, she would be deported back to Guatemala. The victim, who believed him, agreed to leave with Ramirez. He drove her to his home in Kansas City, Missouri, where she was located by law enforcement officials the following day.
Ramirez faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. The DOJ mentioned that Ramirez also faces a fine of up to $500,000 and at least three years of supervision to follow the term of imprisonment.
United States District Judge Donald C. Coggins will sentence Ramirez after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
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