Overview

• Mario Alex Medina was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison and his sister, María Alejandra Medina, received eight years, with each ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution.
• In October 2024, a jury convicted both of conspiracy to commit hostage-taking and to demand a ransom payment, and also found Mario guilty of making a foreign communication with intent to extort.
• Prosecutors said the November 2022 crime involved breaking into a neighbor’s Rosarito home, kidnapping him at gunpoint, pistol-whipping him, and firing a gun near his head.
• Ransom calls and a WhatsApp video demanded $70,000 before a $30,000 payment was arranged at a San Ysidro McDonald’s, where María and Mario’s son, José Salud Medina, collected the cash and took it to Mexico.
• Mexican law enforcement later rescued the victim from a small subterranean trench, and José remains in Mexican custody on unrelated charges with a separate U.S. trial expected.