SAN ANTONIO – A federal grand jury in San Antonio has indicted a Salvadoran national on charges of kidnapping, harboring illegal aliens and illegal re-entry, federal officials announced.
According to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin R. Simmons, Franklin Ulises Rodriguez-Rivas was arrested on Feb. 19 by San Antonio Police. Court documents says Rodriguez-Rivas had previously been convicted of illegal re-entry and was removed from the United States in March 2022. He was again charged with illegal re-entry following his recent arrest.
Investigators with ICE Homeland Security Investigations and SAPD allege that while living in the U.S. illegally, Rodriguez-Rivas harbored an undocumented individual and held that person for ransom. He is now charged with one count of harboring illegal aliens, one count of kidnapping and one count of illegal re-entry.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison for the harboring and illegal re-entry charges and up to life in prison for the kidnapping charge.