RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A jury in Virginia has convicted a member of a multistate document fraud ring of kidnapping and murdering a rival fake-ID seller in Arkansas.
The U.S. District Court jury in Richmond deliberated six hours Tuesday before convicting 25-year-old Edy Oliverez-Jiminez on six counts, including murder and kidnapping in aid of racketeering. The jury acquitted Oliverez-Jiminez on four firearms-related counts.
Sentencing was set for March 2. Oliverez-Jiminez faces a possible life term.
Defense attorney Paul Gregorio said an appeal is likely.
Prosecutors said Oliverez-Jiminez was a cell leader in a Mexico-based fake ID enterprise that protected its lucrative turf with threats, extortion and beatings. They claimed Oliverez-Jiminez and other unknown conspirators lured a competitor, 17-year-old Pasqual Ramos Jr., to an abandoned mobile home in Little Rock and beat him to death.
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