On December 17, 2024, James Edward Daniels, 59, and Frederick Eugene Rudolph, 69, both of Miami, Florida, were convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, multiple counts of kidnapping resulting in death, and kidnapping. The trial took place before U.S. District Court Judge Roy K. Altman.
The convictions stem from a December 5, 2020, incident in which Daniels, Rudolph, and co-conspirators abducted three individuals from a truck yard in Opa-Locka, Florida. After stealing drugs from the victims, the perpetrators bound and tortured them, taped their eyes shut, and loaded them into the back of a rented van. They drove around for hours before taking the victims to an abandoned house in Opa-Locka, where they attempted to execute them by gunfire. Two of the victims were killed, but one survived.
Daniels stole jewelry from one of the deceased victims, and all participants in the conspiracy received drugs, money, or both as compensation for their roles in the crime.
A third defendant, Herbert Barr, 56, pleaded guilty to kidnapping on November 26, 2024.
The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, along with officials from the FBI Miami Field Office, Miami-Dade Police Department, and DEA Miami Field Division. The investigation was conducted by the FBI Miami Division Homestead Resident Agency, Miami-Dade Police Department Homicide Bureau, and DEA Homestead Office, as part of the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Yara Dodin, Nardia Haye, and Katie Guthrie prosecuted the case.
Daniels and Rudolph face sentencing on March 10, 2025, and could receive life imprisonment, fines of up to $250,000 per count, and lifetime supervised release.
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