PHOENIX (AP) — A Mexican citizen has been sentenced to more than two years in jail for holding hostage a baby that had been illegally smuggled into Arizona.
Federal prosecutors say 25-year-old Tolentino Castillo-Flores was given a 30-month jail term Monday. He pleaded guilty in August to harboring illegal immigrants for profit.
Authorities say the 4-month-old child was smuggled across the U.S. border and Castillo-Flores demanded payment from the baby's father last April.
They say Castillo-Flores organized the operation, directed the co-defendants to harbor the infant and negotiated an exchange of money for the baby's release. He was arrested in May by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
The infant was unharmed and returned to the family. Information about the family was not disclosed by authorities.
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