Man Pleads Guilty To Smuggling, Holding Immigrants Hostage
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An illegal immigrant from Guatemala has pleaded guilty to smuggling people into California and holding them
in brutal captivity until their relatives paid thousands of dollars.
Federal immigration officials say 29-year-old Pedro Marcos-Marcos entered pleas Tuesday in Los Angeles to five felony
counts, including hostage taking. He faces up to life in prison at his sentencing in February.
Marcos-Marcos was arrested in August in an investigation that began after a Salvadoran man and an Ecuadorean were rescued from a
Lancaster home. Immigration agents say the Salvadoran told them he was starved and beaten by captors who demanded $6,000 in smuggling fees.
Two other men found at the home pleaded guilty to hostage taking and await sentencing.
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