Two men convicted of kidnapping and carjacking FBI employee in South Dakota

Two men, 29-year-old Deyvin Morales and 25-year-old Juan Alvarez-Soto, were found guilty by a federal jury in South Dakota for charges related to the 2022 kidnapping of an FBI employee. The incident took place during a "drug trafficking trip" from Greeley, Colorado, to South Dakota in a Ford Expedition. The men face sentencing on April 12 and could be sentenced to life in prison. The conviction includes charges of kidnapping, carjacking, and other counts.

Details of the incident

Alvarez-Soto, who is from El Salvador, was also found guilty of unlawfully entering the U.S. after being deported. The men and a third suspect, 29-year-old Karla Lopez-Gutierrez, left Greeley, Colorado, on May 5, 2022, and were on a "drug trafficking trip" to South Dakota in a Ford Expedition. The Expedition was chased by a South Dakota trooper at one point before getting away. Nearly out of gas at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Morales suggested "taking over" a new vehicle, and the FBI employee was kidnapped at gunpoint. The victim managed to escape when the group stopped to buy gas and zip ties. Morales and Alvarez-Soto were arrested later in Greeley, while Lopez-Gutierrez was arrested in August 2022 in Loveland, Colorado, and pleaded guilty. Alvarez-Soto's defense attorney cited "a lot of doubt" in the government's case, while Morales's attorney stated that there was no proof of Morales' presence during the crime.