Email

Print

On Thursday, 7News told you about the armed kidnapping of the Mexican Diplomat, Domingo Rodriguez Semerena, who is attached to the Cultural Section of the Embassy. Today in Magistrate's court, 5 men were arraigned in connection with this incident.

They are 18 year-old Delton Jeffords, 25 year-old Noel Alamilla, 24 year-old Roque Middleton, 23 year-old Derrick Sanchez, and 34 year-old Ralph Middleton

Jeffords, Alamilla, and Roque Middleton, were all charged with kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and robbery. Alamilla, Sanchez and Ralph Middleton were also charged with handling stolen goods for having items that were taken during the kidnapping.

No plea was taken from any of the men, and the prosecutor objected to bail on several grounds.

 Firstly, he told the court that the attack was committed with a firearm, which is an automatic remand.

 Secondly, he offered that the court should consider the severity with which person are dealt with when convicted of kidnapping.

Thirdly, he asked the court to consider the second submission in connection with the fact that the police have strong case against the men since one of the accused gave a caution statement about the events, which links them to the incident.

The prosecutor also told the court that the men may the ability to interfere with the prosecution's case, which police are still investigating, especially because of one of the men's relation with Semerena . He referred to one of them men as a friend.

Finally, the prosecutor reminded the court that this victim is a diplomat, and that his status makes this incident very important.

After considering all the submissions that the prosecutor made, Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith remanded all 5 accused into custody until April 25.

Semerena reported to police, on March 13 at around 6:45 p.m., he was assisting a person with a ride to a friend's house on a street not known to him.

When they arrived at the house, the person exited the vehicle, and 2 men approached him. One of them was armed with a firearm, and that man forced him into the backseat of his vehicle.

2 other men then entered the vehicle and robbed him of his Nokia brand cellular phone, a gold chain, $150 in cash, and other personal documents all to total value of $1,850.

The 4 men held him hostage until 7 a.m. the next day, where he was taken and abandoned in a swampy area of the Northern Highway. The men also stole his 2007 Audi brand vehicle, when they abandoned him.

After a few days of investigation, police arrested the 5 men.

They also recovered the vehicle, which was in Roque Middleton's possession in Burrell Boom. The cell phone was also recovered, which was reportedly Alamilla's possession, and Semerena's receipt book also allegedly recovered from Ralph Middleton, who was in Biscayne Village.