RED SHIRT, S.D. — Two Central American immigrants and a Colorado man are facing life in federal prison after they allegedly carjacked and kidnapped an employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at gunpoint on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in May.
The United States Department of Justice announced Monday that Juan Francisco Alvarez-Soto, 23, originally from El Salvador; Deyvin Morales, 27, originally from Guatemala; and Lourdes Alondra Bonilla, 23, from Colorado, were all indicted of kidnapping, carjacking and using a firearm in relation to a crime.
The indictment alleges that on May 6, near Red Shirt — an unincorporated Oglala Lakota village in the far northwestern corner of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation — the trio, widely known under a swathe of aliases, used a rifle to carjack and abduct a professional support employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Though it’s unclear what role each individual played in the alleged kidnapping and carjacking, the indictment says each defendant aided and abetted in committing the accused crimes.
Monday’s announcement, which came exactly one month after the date of the allegations, came as the trio are now being transported to South Dakota for further proceedings in South Dakota’s U.S. District Court in Rapid City after they were originally indicted in Colorado on May 19.
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All three have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
If convicted, the kidnapping charge carries a maximum sentence of life in federal prison, while the carjacking and weapons charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 15 and seven years in prison. Each county also carries a maximum fine of up to $250,000.
Alvarez-Soto and Morales, originally from Central America, currently live in Colorado and South Dakota, though information from the Department of Justice did not specify who lives in which state. Their citizenship is also unclear.
All three defendants have been detained pending further court hearing in South Dakota. A trial date has not yet been set.
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