3 Gwinnett drug dealers convicted in kidnapping

Three illegal immigrant drug dealers who chained a man in a Gwinnett basement for a week have pleaded guilty to federal kidnapping charges.

Victor Abiles Gomez, 20, Omar Mendoza-Villegas, 19, and Gerardo “Gera,” Solorio Reyes, 23, all illegal Mexican immigrants, pleaded guilty Friday to federal hostage-taking and related charges, arising from the week-long kidnapping and torture of a drug dealer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said of the case, “The methods employed by Mexican drug dealers to collect money are becoming increasingly violent, threatening not only the well-being of those directly involved but also innocent bystanders living in neighborhoods being infiltrated by participants in the drug trade.”

On July 11, 2008, federal and local authorities surrounded a house in a middle-class Lilburn neighborhood. The captors fled and authorities found their victim, Oscar Reynoso, 31, bound and gagged and chained to a mattress in the unfinished basement of the home. He appeared to be severely dehydrated and badly beaten. Also found in the basement were flex cuffs and firearms, including an assault rifle. His captors had contacted Reynoso’s friends and relatives in Rhode Island in an effort to collect the drug debt of $300,000.

Reynoso, who authorities also say was a drug dealer, had been lured to Atlanta from Rhode Island, purportedly to buy a vehicle.

Reynoso pleaded guilty on March 10 to conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine. His sentencing date has not been scheduled.

The kidnappers face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. Sentencings will be July 7. Authorities are still investigating the kidnapping and searching for the other captors. Anyone with information is asked to call the DEA-Atlanta Field Division at 404-893-7100.