BOSTON – A member of a Lawrence-based kidnapping crew was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for his role in a 2012 kidnapping.
Luis Reynoso, a/k/a “Prieto,” 27, of Lawrence, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 11 years in prison and three years of supervised release. In August 2015, Reynoso pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
Reynoso was charged in connection with a wide-ranging investigation targeting violent kidnapping and home invasion crews operating in Lawrence. According to court documents, these crews – often referred to as “joloperros,” which loosely translates to “stick-up guys” – were organized, armed and violent.
Reynoso was identified as part of a violent, sophisticated kidnapping crew that included Danny Veloz, a/k/a “Maestro;” Jose Guzman, a/k/a “Cano;” Jose Matos, a/k/a “Boyca;” and Gadiel Romero, a/k/a “TC,” all of Lawrence; Henry Maldonado of Manchester, N.H., and Thomas Wallace of Raymond, N.H.
On July 23, 2012, armed with firearms and wearing t-shirts with the word “police” on them, the crew kidnapped two men at gunpoint in Lawrence. The victims were transported to Manchester, N.H., and held overnight – during which time one was burned with a hot iron – before being rescued by law enforcement. Several cooperating defendants advised that the July 23, 2012, kidnapping was one of several kidnappings or attempted kidnappings committed by this crew in Lawrence in 2012.
A federal investigation identified this crew as one of several kidnapping and home invasion crews operating in Lawrence. The crews typically kidnapped drug dealers for large ransoms that were paid in cash or drugs; used safe houses to stash their victims; and used sophisticated tracking techniques, such as GPS devices, to follow their victims. The crews targeted drug dealers because they believed that the drug dealers were unlikely to cooperate with law enforcement, were subject to deportation, or feared reprisals, either against themselves or their families. Numerous kidnapping victims described how they were abducted, tortured, and forced to pay ransoms of hundreds of thousands of dollars (either in the U.S. or in the Dominican Republic) to joloperros crew members. Victims were burned, scarred, bruised, and given other significant physical injuries marking them as kidnapping victims. During the investigation, law enforcement seized dozens of firearms, including shotguns, GPS devices, irons used to torture victims, masks, zip ties, t-shirts with the word “police” on them, fake police badges, handcuffs and drugs.
Veloz was sentenced to life in prison in November 2017; Romero was sentenced to 23 years in prison; Guzman was sentenced to 16 years in prison; Wallace and Maldonado were each sentenced to 13 years in prison; and Matos was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
