HOUSTON – A 23-year-old Houston man has been ordered to federal prison for admitting his role in a brutal kidnapping of a woman from her residence in Katy, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Hipolito Gutierrez pleaded guilty Nov. 26, 2019.
Today, Judge Sim Lake sentenced Gutierrez to a 10-year-term of imprisonment to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release.
At the hearing, the court heard details of the violent abduction in which Gutierrez and Nico Namitle-Morales kidnapped the female victim at gunpoint from her vehicle as she drove into her garage. Gutierrez and Namilte-Morales transported the victim to Dallas and held her captive for three days while demanding ransom payments.
Gutierrez is the last man to be sentenced for his role in the crime. In December 2021, the court ordered Namitle-Morales to serve a 20-year sentence for his role as the main gunman and mastermind of the kidnapping.
Gutierrez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBIconducted the investigation with the assistance of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and Texarkana Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Peneguy prosecuted the case.