San Diego man sentenced to 12 years in prison for scheme holding immigrants captive for ransom

A San Diego man who took part in a scheme to hold migrants captive and demand ransom payments from their families — leaving at least two migrants missing and presumed dead — was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison.

Federal prosecutors say migrants seeking to be smuggled into the United States were tricked by members of a Tijuana-based trafficking organization that instead kidnapped the victims and held them against their will.

Those migrants included a man and a woman who were abducted separately in 2024 and remain missing despite their families making thousands of dollars in ransom payments.

In September 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Isaac Jimenez personally collected $15,000 from the family of the kidnapped man, then delivered it to his co-conspirators in Mexico.

The kidnappers later demanded more money from the man’s wife and other family members. After receiving the additional payments, they threatened to kill the man unless the family paid more, prosecutors said.