Guatemalan Man Sentenced To Fourteen Years For Smuggling, Kidnapping Minor

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Prosecutors in the office of U.S. attorney Adair Ford Boroughs announced the sentencing a Guatemalan man to fourteen years in federal prison on Wednesday (October 30, 2024) for his role in the “kidnapping and illegal transportation of an alien.”

According to a press release, 35-year-old Bernardino de Jesus Ramirez-Ramirez smuggled a minor victim into the United States through El Paso, Texas after he and the victim’s family entered into an agreement.

While crossing the border, the victim – who was unaccompanied – was intercepted by officers with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). As an unaccompanied minor, she was provided with treatment for injuries sustained during her smuggling and then transferred to a residential facility until she could be released to a custodian within the United States.

The U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) reviewed the minor victim’s smuggling case and learned she owed a debt to Ramirez, that the minor victim had never met Ramirez and that her preference was to reside with a family member in the United States rather than with her smuggler.

Despite Ramirez and the victim’s parents in Guatemala pressing for her to be released into his custody – pursuant to their illegal smuggling agreement – the minor victim was instead released to the custody an uncle who lived in Newberry, South Carolina in March 2023.

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Less than a week after she arrived at her uncle’s home in Newberry, however, Ramirez drove from Kansas City, Missouri to the uncle’s home. Upon arrival, Ramirez told the minor victim she would be deported if she stayed with her uncle – and that the smuggling debt would increase if she did not leave with him. Believing what she was told, the victim left with Ramirez – who drove her across the country to his home in Kansas City. The uncle notified local law enforcement after he returned home from work and learned that the minor victim was missing.

Within 24 hours of the kidnapping, the Newberry, S.C. police department and the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) tracked Ramirez-Ramirez to a home associated with him in Kansas City. On April 6, 2023, the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) responded to the home, recovered the victim and arrested Ramirez. He was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury (.pdf) on June 6, 2023.

U.S. district court judge Donald C. Coggins sentenced Ramirez to 168 months in federal prison – to be followed by a five-year term of court ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Kidnapping, especially the kidnapping of vulnerable children, is a monstrous offense,” Boroughs said in announcing the sentence. “The quick collaborative response of law enforcement across multiple jurisdictions saved this child from additional harm and trauma.”

Ramirez’s case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), SLED, and the Newberry police department, with assistance from the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) and KCPD. Assistant U.S. attorneys Carrie Fisher Sherard and Kathleen Stoughton prosecuted the case.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Jenn Wood is FITSNews’ incomparable research director. She’s also the producer of the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts and leading expert on all things Murdaugh/ South Carolina justice. A former private investigator with a criminal justice degree, evildoers beware, Jenn Wood is far from your average journalist! A deep dive researcher with a passion for truth and a heart for victims, this mom of two is pretty much a superhero in FITSNews country. Did we mention she’s married to a rocket scientist? (Lucky guy!) Got a story idea or a tip for Jenn? Email her at jenn@fitsnews.com.

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