Posted on 01/17/2007 5:31:07 PM PST by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES - Two men were convicted Wednesday of orchestrating a ruthless kidnapping-for-ransom scheme targeting Russian immigrants that resulted in the killings of five people whose bodies were found at the bottom of a Northern California reservoir.
A federal jury found Iouri Mikhel, 41, and Jurijus Kadamovas, 40, guilty of three counts of hostage-taking and three counts of conspiracy. Both could face the death penalty.
Neither defendant showed reaction. Relatives of some victims sobbed and held each other as the jury's decision was announced.
During the 4 1/2-month trial, federal prosecutors portrayed the two defendants as the leaders of a group that sought to amass a fortune by kidnapping affluent Russian immigrants from Los Angeles in late 2001 and early 2002 and extorting money from their families and friends.
Regardless of whether ransoms were paid, prosecutors said, victims were killed and their bodies tied with weights and dumped in a reservoir near Yosemite National Park. The kidnappers had promised some of their hostages that they would be freed, prosecutors said.
Defense attorneys countered that accomplices who cut deals with prosecutors for lesser prison sentences were the brains of the operation. Mikhel's attorney Richard Callahan said his client may have been involved in money laundering but would have been too smart to leave behind crucial evidence.
The penalty phase of the trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 24.
Prosecutors outline case of bodies dumped in Calif. reservoir ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1696681/posts
Posted by NormsRevenge
On News/Activism ^ 09/06/2006
"Mikhel's attorney Richard Callahan said his client may have been involved in money laundering but would have been too smart to leave behind crucial evidence."
He should have been smart enough to hire an attorney who could come up with a better story.
More links:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=newmelonesreservoir
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=newmelones
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