Accused kidnapper freed of charges

Everet Mejia

It appeared that there was convincing evidence against Everet Mejia, a Nicaraguan National, who was accused of kidnapping Adrian Lizarraga, a resident of the Cayo District. But today Mejia was freed of the charges of Kidnapping and Blackmail after a unanimous ‘not guilty’ verdict. The background on the story dates back to 2005 when Adrian, the son of Pedro Lizarraga, a businessman, was kidnapped as he stood at the gate to his yard. The masked men, armed with guns and knives ordered Adrian to drive to Cristo Rey Village, but then abandoned their mission and set him free. But that wasn’t the end of the ordeal because one of the kidnappers called Adrian’s father the following day threatening to harm his family if he did not pay one hundred thousand dollars to secure his release. Pedro eventually agreed to pay twenty thousand dollars and that was when Mejia was caught in a sting operation organized by the San Ignacio Police Formation. Adrian was able to positively identify Mejia as one of his kidnappers, who took off his mask during the incident. In his defense, Mejia admitted to being at the phone booth where police captured him, but said he was detained as he was about to make a phone call.