U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “With today’s sentence, Fernando Ra will spend 18 years in federal prison for his admitted role in the brutal and violent kidnapping and torture of his victims.  This case illustrates yet again how violence goes hand in hand with the illegal drug trade.  We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring to justice those who engage in drug trafficking and violence.”

According to the Superseding Indictment and other publicly filed documents, on October 3, 2020, RA and his co‑conspirators kidnapped, restrained, robbed, and savagely assaulted two victims, using firearms and baseball bats to beat them.  RA also used a knife to carve the letter “Z” into the skin of one of victims, an apparent reference to Los Zetas, the notoriously violent Mexican drug cartel.  RA claimed that the victims owed Los Zetas a narcotics debt, and that he was attacking the victims on behalf of Los Zetas.

In addition to the kidnapping and robbery, RA also participated in a related conspiracy to traffic between 15 and 50 kilograms of cocaine from May 2020 through November 2020.

In addition to today’s prison sentence, RA, 26, of Yonkers, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of Special Agents from the New York Division of the DEA, and Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.  Mr. Williams also thanked the DEA Buffalo Resident Office and the Paterson (New Jersey) Police Department for their assistance with the investigation.

The Zetas became particularly well-known for their brutality, often torturing and decapitating their victims. They reached their peak in 2012, becoming Mexico’s most powerful gang. But after that their leader was killed and their next leader jailed.