The kidnappers who kidnapped the San Jose baby are convicted
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Two people who abducted a 3-month-old baby from her home in the San Francisco Bay Area last year were sentenced to jail Monday.
Yesenia Ramirez was sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison. Jose Portillo received five years.
The two said they did not contest last August the kidnapping of Brandon Cuellar on April 25, 2022.
Prosecutors said Ramirez met the boy’s family through the church and plotted to kidnap the baby after she lied to her boyfriend, telling him she had given birth to their baby and would be bringing him home from the hospital.
Ramirez took the baby’s grandmother shopping and arranged for Portillo to enter the family’s San Jose apartment while they were out. This gave Portillo time to pick up the baby while Ramirez helped the woman unload groceries from the car, prosecutors said.
The video showed Portillo walking off with the baby in a carrier covered with a white blanket.
The boy’s mother was at work at the time.
After an intense search, the child was found the next day at Portillo’s house a few miles from the apartment.
“This accident is parents’ worst nightmare. We are fortunate that it was successful,” San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata said at the time.
Prosecutors said the two had previously attempted to kidnap the boy several times and once attempted to brake the mother’s car.
At Monday’s hearing, Ramirez wept as he delivered a lengthy apology that was eventually cut short by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Nona Klippen, KRON-TV reported.
“I am sorry for this child, his mother, father and all his loved ones that I have hurt. I feel sorry for the others I have manipulated, traumatized, because of my crimes and actions,” Ramirez said.
