| For Immediate Release Case # 02WF0793 March 6, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
MAN CONVICTED OF KIDNAPPING VICTIM AND HOLDING HIM IN MOTEL FOR TWO WEEKS
FOR $10,000 RANSOM
*Five co-defendants in this case have pleaded guilty and three have been sentenced
SANTA ANA – A man was convicted and sentenced yesterday for kidnapping a homeowner and holding him for $10,000 ransom while the victim was bound, blindfolded, and gagged for two weeks. Nasir Kamaruddin Shamsi, 50, Placentia, pleaded guilty March 5, 2012, to 10 felony counts of second degree commercial burglary, first degree robbery in concert, kidnapping, fraudulently using an access card, cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, and a sentencing enhancement for crime-bail-crime for the drug charges. The term “crime-bail-crime” indicates that the defendant committed a crime while out on bail for the kidnapping case. Shamsi was sentenced to 21 years and four months in state prison.
Defendants Esau Abrajan, 28, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Eric Anthony Velasquez, 30, Rancho Santa Margarita, each pleaded guilty to two felony counts of receipt of stolen property, one felony count of kidnapping, and one felony count of grand theft and were sentenced Jan. 22, 2010, to 11 years in state prison. Mark Edward Dumais, 38, Huntington Beach, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace. Brian David Good, 38, Huntington Beach, pleaded guilty to one felony count of kidnapping. Scott Douglass Burns, 53, San Diego, pleaded guilty to one felony count each of kidnapping and burglary. Good was sentenced to five years in state prison. Burns will be sentenced to nine years and four months in state prison and Dumais will be sentenced to 90 days in Orange County Jail at their sentencing on March 16, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-45, Central Justice Center.
In 2002, victim Sohiel D. hired a contractor, Shamsi’s brother, to remodel a home he owned in Orange. The contractor hired Dumais. At various times, Abrajan, Velasquez, Burns and Good were brought on to work on the house. While visiting his brother at the property, Shamsi developed a plan to kidnap the homeowner, Sohiel D., and hold him for ransom. Shamsi enlisted the help of two brothers, Velasquez and Abrajan, to kidnap the victim.
On March 18, 2002, Velasquez and Abrajan kidnapped Sohiel D. from the house, tied him up, blindfolded him, and gagged his mouth with duct tape. They kept the victim upstairs in the semi-renovated home for two days. After two days, Velasquez, Abrajan, Burns, and Dumais assisted Shamsi in moving the victim, who was still bound and gagged, to three different motels.
For 13 days, Shamsi, Velasquez and Abrajan, with assistance from Burns and Dumais, held the victim against his will and left him tied, blindfolded and gagged. Shamsi used the victim’s credit cards for the two weeks that Sohiel D. was kidnapped.
After 13 days of holding the victim, Shamsi, Velazquez and Abrajan made a $10,000 ransom demand to Sohiel D.’s girlfriend. The girlfriend contacted the police, who had been looking for the missing victim for the two weeks since his disappearance. Shamsi and Good drove to meet the victim’s girlfriend to pick up the ransom money.