Life Term Imposed in Restaurateur’s Kidnaping

A North Hollywood man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for his part in the kidnaping of a Los Angeles restaurateur who was taken from his home at gunpoint, held for 18 hours, then released after promising to leave $80,000 in a phone booth.

A San Fernando Superior Court jury in June found Jose Francisco Ochoa, 26, guilty of five counts of kidnaping, robbery, burglary and conspiracy in the Dec. 8 abduction of Leonardo Lopez, 35.

Judge John H. Major imposed the life sentence, plus an additional five years in state prison for the robbery conviction. Ochoa denied taking part in the kidnaping, according to a probation report.

Julian Cevallos Vargas, 34, of North Hollywood who was found guilty of the same charges, is scheduled for sentencing Monday. A third suspect, Luis Roberto Delgadillo, 20, of Los Angeles, was acquitted.

Ochoa and Vargas were accused of kidnaping Lopez as he entered his North Hollywood home. Lopez was forced into a nearby car, where he was beaten and robbed of about $11,000 in cash from one of three Los Angeles restaurants he owns, according to his court testimony.

The kidnapers first demanded a $200,000 ransom but later released Lopez after he promised to leave $80,000 at a phone booth at Lankershim and Magnolia boulevards. Police said they arrested Ochoa, Vargas and Delgadillo a week later as the three attempted to retrieve a bag left at the drop spot.