A Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a kidnapping conspiracy that resulted in the victim’s murder.
Marco A. Sosa-Perea, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
On Jan. 4, 2022, Sosa-Perea pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Co-defendants Jonathan M. Bravo-Lopez (also known as “Jonathan Vravo,” and “Shadow”), 28, and Juan D. Osorio (also known as “Spexx”), 29, both of whom are citizens of Mexico illegally residing in Kansas City, Mo., were found guilty at trial on Dec. 16, 2022, of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death. Osorio was also found guilty of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. Bravo-Lopez was also found guilty of illegally reentering the United States after having been deported in 2016. Sentencing hearings have not yet been scheduled for Bravo-Lopez and Osorio.
Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Bravo-Lopez and Osorio conspired to kidnap Cristian Escutia in an attempt to rob him of money. They transported Escutia across state lines from Missouri to Kansas before fatally shooting him on April 3, 2017.
Bravo-Lopez and Osorio arranged to purchase $300 of marijuana from Escutia as a ruse to lure him into their kidnapping plan. On April 3, 2017, Sosa-Perea drove Bravo-Lopez and Osorio in his girlfriend’s car, a Chrysler Pacifica, to Escutia’s residence. When Escutia came out of his residence and approached the vehicle, Bravo-Lopez and Osorio got out of the vehicle and confronted him. Escutia was forced into their vehicle at gunpoint. Sosa-Perea, who had remained in the car, drove them away from the scene of the kidnapping. The kidnapping was captured by the video surveillance system outside a nearby residence.
Sosa-Perea drove his co-defendants and the kidnapping victim to the 200 block of Donovan Road in Kansas City, Kan.. They forced Escutia out of the vehicle. Escutia was shot three times in the head and left to die on the side of the road. Sosa-Perea then drove himself, Bravo-Lopez, and Osorio back into Missouri from Kansas.
Osorio, who is in the United States unlawfully, was in possession of an Action Arms Uzi .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol when he was arrested on April 7, 2017.
Under federal statutes, Bravo-Lopez and Osorio each are subject to a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.
