Source: Office of United States Attorneys
CHICAGO — Three men have been sentenced to federal prison terms for their roles in abducting a man in broad daylight and holding him for ransom in a Chicago auto body shop.
In 2015, ANTONIO SALGADO, OCTAVIO ALEJANDRE JR., and ARMANDO DELGADO planned to kidnap a man suspected of involvement in drug trafficking. The kidnapping plan went awry after the abductors realized they kidnapped the wrong man. The victim of the kidnapping was a relative of the intended target. After being taken at gunpoint outside of his suburban Chicago home, the victim was blindfolded, held at gunpoint, and beaten for nearly two days in the auto body shop in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. The kidnappers contacted another of the victim’s relatives and demanded drugs or cash.
Unbeknownst to the defendants, several of their phones had previously been intercepted by federal authorities who were conducting an unrelated investigation. In a recorded call between Salgado and Delgado on the day after the kidnapping, Delgado told Salgado, “There is a little situation. It’s the wrong guy because it’s his brother . . . that we’re trying to get.” Salgado replied, “Let the guy go, but beat the [expletive] out of him.” The victim was eventually released.
The three kidnappers pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood sentenced Salgado, 42, of Chicago, to ten and a half years in prison. On Dec. 3, 2024, Judge Wood sentenced Alejandre Jr., 41, of Chicago, to ten and a half years. On Nov. 26, 2024, Judge Wood sentenced Delgado, 44, of Chicago, to 14 years and seven months in prison.
During the prosecution of the kidnapping case, Salgado failed to appear for court proceedings and became a fugitive for nearly eight months, until he was located and arrested. Salgado was charged in a separate criminal case with contempt of court.
The sentences were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Sheila G. Lyons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Valuable assistance was provided by the Berwyn, Ill. Police Department and the Chicago Police Department.
“There is perhaps nothing more serious than grabbing a person off the street at gunpoint, using force and intimidation and beatings to detain them,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kartik K. Raman and Erika L. Csicsila argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “The kidnapping involved in this case was violent, involved guns and other implements, and resulted in the detention of a victim for over 24 hours.”