Brothers plead guilty to taking migrants hostage in Escondido

Two brothers who kidnapped migrants and held them for ransom at an Escondido home have pleaded guilty to federal charges, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Virves Pablo-Francisco, 22, and Nicolas Pablo-Francisco, 20, held hostage a 16-year-old boy from Afghanistan, as well as a 41-year-old man from Ecuador and the man’s 19-year-old son, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to court documents, the siblings demanded between $4,000 and $10,000 for each person’s release. The older brother admitted that he provided the Ecuadorian father and son no food and told them they were required to pay extra if they wanted to eat, according to prosecutors. The victims had crossed into the U.S. without authorization before being kidnapped, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say the abductions came to light on June 13, when the 16-year-old boy’s family in the United States was contacted by his kidnappers.

The family reached out to law enforcement, and investigators obtained cellphone records for a phone the kidnappers used to call the family, according to a probable cause statement filed in federal court last year.

Records showed Nicolas Pablo-Francisco was the phone’s user, with a listed address in Escondido, according to the statement. Virves Pablo-Francisco was listed as the billing party for the account.

On June 14, agents searched the home listed on the phone’s account and found all three kidnapping victims, court documents state. Nicolas Pablo-Francisco was arrested at the home, while Virves Pablo-Francisco was arrested at a later time.

Virves Pablo-Francisco pleaded guilty on Tuesday, while his brother pleaded guilty in February.