LOS ANGELES, CA – Two Southern California men pleaded guilty Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court to charges that include kidnapping migrants and demanding ransom from their families as part of a human smuggling operation, federal prosecutors announced.
Miguel Angel Avila, 24, of Hemet, and Omar Avila Salmeron, 43, of South Los Angeles, entered their pleas on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. Prosecutors said the operation moved more than 100 people and held migrants hostage at locations across Los Angeles County, including a Burbank-area rental and a motel, in March 2023.
Both men face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison. Sentencing is set for Feb. 18, 2027.
Two men plead guilty to four felonies
Avila pleaded guilty to kidnapping, conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and two counts of transporting illegal aliens for private financial gain. Salmeron pleaded guilty to the same four felonies.
Salmeron also pleaded guilty to a firearms offense, being an illegal immigrant in possession of firearms. U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin set the sentencing date for both men.
By pleading guilty, the men acknowledged the conduct described in the charges, which prosecutors laid out in the account below.
Smuggling ring led from Hemet
Prosecutors said Avila led a human smuggling operation based in Hemet from July 2022 to April 2023. They said it transported more than 100 people who had crossed into the United States unlawfully.
Salmeron joined the operation in October 2022, according to prosecutors. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations and the Los Angeles Police Department investigated the case.
Migrants taken from Arizona gas station
According to prosecutors, Avila told co-defendant Jose Alfredo Moreno Gonzalez on March 21, 2023, to drive to a Chevron gas station in Chandler, Arizona. Prosecutors said Moreno kidnapped four migrants there.
Moreno drove the four migrants to a restaurant in Burbank, prosecutors said. Co-defendant Jose Jaime Garcia took custody of them there and moved them to a nearby Airbnb rental.
Prosecutors said Avila used the hostages’ cellphones to call their relatives and demand ransom in exchange for their release.
Hostage escapes through bathroom window
On March 22, 2023, three hostages were being held in a motel room in Los Angeles County, prosecutors said. One of them escaped through a second-story bathroom window.
Avila and an accomplice chased the man to a store in Koreatown, prosecutors said. They said Avila body-slammed him to the ground, put him in a chokehold and punched him repeatedly in the face.
According to initial reports, Avila and two co-defendants then tied the hands of two hostages and moved them to another Airbnb, where they were confined to a room and threatened with violence if they tried to escape.
Prosecutors said one hostage was handed over to Salmeron, who continued to demand payment for that victim’s release.
Brother pays $11,000 at San Bernardino County gas station
On March 23, 2023, Avila sent two co-defendants to take one hostage to a gas station in San Bernardino County, according to prosecutors. The victim’s brother handed over $11,000 in cash there in exchange for the man’s release.
Prosecutors did not identify the hostages in the information released about the pleas.
Nearly 50 firearms found at Salmeron’s residence
Federal prosecutors said nearly 50 firearms, several firearm parts and ammunition were found at Salmeron’s residence. The firearms count to which he pleaded guilty is separate from the four felonies he shares with Avila.
Indictment named five defendants
A federal grand jury returned a five-defendant indictment on July 30, 2024. It charged Avila, Salmeron, Garcia, Moreno and Gabriel Michel Becerra with conspiracy to commit hostage taking, hostage taking, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and transporting illegal aliens for private financial gain.
At the time, the defendants were identified as Avila, 22, of Hemet; Salmeron, 41, of South Los Angeles; Garcia, 20, of San Jacinto; Moreno, 21, of Oak Hills; and Becerra, 22, of Palmdale. Becerra was a fugitive when the indictment was returned.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said when the indictment was announced in August 2024 that the defendants allegedly preyed on victims who sought to emigrate to the United States by demanding ransom from their families in exchange for their release. The allegations against the other defendants are not established by the two pleas, and the information released about the pleas does not describe how their cases stand.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
How federal smuggling sentences compare nationally
The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s fiscal year 2025 Quick Facts on alien smuggling offenses reports an average sentence of 15 months, with 90% of offenders sentenced to prison. The commission said 66,662 cases were reported to it that year, and 22,743 of them involved immigration offenses.
Those figures describe alien smuggling cases nationwide and do not predict the sentences in this case.
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 18, 2027
Olguin will sentence Avila and Salmeron on Feb. 18, 2027. Each faces a statutory maximum of life in federal prison.
Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than 20 years for Avila.
