SEATTLE — The U.S. District Attorney’s Office says a 25-year-old man from Federal Way has been sentenced to eight years in prison after kidnapping two people.
Daniel Lopez was sentenced for kidnapping a victim from her home at gunpoint in October 2024.
Prosecutors say Lopez believed the victim’s spouse had cheated him out of $2500 worth of cocaine in a drug deal.
Lopez was seen on a neighbor’s surveillance cameras leaving with the victim while holding a gun.
He later kidnapped a second victim, holding both people hostage at another location in the Seattle area.
Neither victim had legal immigration status in the U.S., according to prosecutors.
Lopez later forced both victims to travel to Mexico, then to Guatemala after crossing the U.S. southern border.
The first victim’s husband reported her missing a day after she was taken from their home.
Lopez later returned to the U.S. and was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation while hiding in a motel in Houston, Texas.
He was indicted in November 2024 and sentenced on Wednesday.
U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd spoke about how the Lopez’s lengthy and serious criminal history merited the sentence, saying, “Mr. Lopez has been involved in street gangs since his mid-teens and has committed several violent offenses including robbery, drive-by shooting and illegal possession of guns and drugs. This 8-year prison sentence is focused on protecting the community.”