LOS ANGELES - A Pasadena man who pleaded guilty late last year to conspiracy to kidnap was sentenced for his part in a plot that ended with a victim’s body being unearthed months after the victim was kidnapped.

Anthony Valladares, 29, was sentenced to 195 months in federal prison. Hired as the “muscle,” Valadares was one of four men directly involved in the kidnapping of Ruochen “Tony” Liao in San Gabriel. Liao was beaten, restrained and held for a $2 million ransom that was demanded from his parents, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin also ordered Valladares to pay $33,090 in restitution.

Valladares pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to kidnap October 2020.

Liao met with Chinese national Peicheng Shen, 35. The latter used an alias several times while communicating with Liao, pretending to help him settle a debt. During a third meeting, Shen met Liao at a San Gabriel shopping center July 16, 2018 and lured him into a van, according to court documents.

Valladares was hiding in the van. Shen uttered a word to the “muscle,” who helped to beat shocked with a stun gun, restrained with zip ties and covered with a black hood, according to court documents.

“Valladares admitted to helping Yang acquire the taser used in the kidnapping and admitted to acquiring a revolver and bullets for the kidnapping,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement.

Alexis Ivan Romero Velez, a 25-year-old Azusa man, was hired by Valladares. Velez drove the van to a house in Rosemead where Liao was placed into another vehicle.

Shen and another co-conspirator, Chinese national Guangyao Yang, 28, took Liao to a home in Corona where his legs and arms were restrained and his eyes taped shut. He was then confined to a closet, according to court documents.

“The day after the kidnapping, the victim’s father received a demand for a $2 million ransom in exchange for the victim’s life, with the money to be deposited into three Chinese bank accounts within three hours,’ according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement.

Valladares was apparently not present when Liao was killed.

Investigators learned of Yang’s Internet search history, which included discovering how long it takes for a body to decompose in soil. The closet where Liao was confined was also re-carpeted, according to court documents.

Liao’s body was eventually disposed of in Mojave, California. His skeletal remains were eventually discovered by a hiker June 12, 2019 in the area of Cache Creek Road and Highway 58. The manner of death is undetermined, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office - Coroner Section.

Shen and Yang, who previously resided in West Covina, were both arrested in China, held on charges related to the kidnapping. 

Velez pleaded guilty in September 2019 to one count of conspiracy to kidnap. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, November 10.

The FBI conducted this investigation with help from the FBI’s Safe Street Task Force, which includes the Pasadena Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Julia S. Choe and Frances S. Lewis, both of the General Crimes Section, prosecuted this case.

PICO RIVERA - A sedan slammed into a semi, killing the car’s driver on Rosemead Boulevard early Sunday morning.

The sedan crashed into the semi on southbound Rosemead Boulevard south of San Gabriel Boulevard around 12:21 a.m. February 23. According to early CHP reports, the sedan went over and embankment and crashed, according to California Highway Patrol traffic logs.

REGION – Deputies are investigating a phoned threat about a shooting, or weapons threat inside an unspecified high school, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday.
 
Parents and students report heavy law enforcement presence at Rosemead High School, 9063 Mission Dr., in Rosemead. The San Gabriel Unified School District reported lockdowns were initiated at district schools out of an abundance of caution.
 
The threat was reported more than an hour ago.

LOS ANGELES - Police continue to search for the suspect who stabbed two people -- both ended up in the San Gabriel Valley Sunday night.

The victims were apparently stabbed in Boyle Heights at Soto Street and Wabash Avenue around 8:15 p.m. April 7 by a Hispanic man. Both victims are in stable condition, according to Sal Ramirez, Los Angeles Police Department public information officer. 

LOS ANGELES - Detectives are asking additional victims to come forward after the arrest and arraignment of a high school track and field coach accused of carrying on a years-long relationship with a student.

Fidel Camarena Dominguez, 37, pleaded not guilty to six counts of lewd acts on a child 14 or 15 years old, two counts each of oral copulation of a person under 16, dissuading a witness from prosecuting a crime and one count each of unlawful sexual intercourse and oral copulation of a person under 18, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor

LOS ANGELES - The motorcycle rider who died in a Rosemead crash May 12 was identified.
 
Andrew Crespo, 26, died from multiple blunt force trauma. His death was ruled accidental, according to Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.
 
Crespo sustained fatal injuries after colliding with the rear of a vehicle at Garvey and Muscatel avenues around 2:54 p.m. May 12, said Lt. Kusayanagi of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Temple Station.
 
Firefighters arrived on scene and declared Crespo deceased at 3:09 p.m., Winter said.