In Santa Ana, California, a man and a woman have pleaded guilty and were immediately sentenced to six years and six months in prison for their involvement in the kidnapping of an Irvine woman in an attempt to extort money from her family.
Yang “Rose” Wang, 41, of Huntington Beach, and Reha Soylular, 60, of Newport Beach, pleaded guilty to kidnapping for extortion, burglary, and attempted extortion by force or threat, all of which are felonies. The two have been in custody since August 31, 2019.
Another co-defendant, George Armando Medrano, 36, pleaded guilty on June 29, 2022, to kidnapping, burglary, and attempted extortion, also felonies, and was sentenced to 13 years and eight months in prison. Co-defendant Ezra Schley, 76, pleaded guilty to burglary on October 8 and is awaiting sentencing on July 19.
The four individuals kidnapped the victim, known as Jane Doe, from her apartment on August 28, 2019, and demanded a significant sum of money from her husband and mother-in-law for her safe return, as per Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The defendants sent the victim’s family photos of her through an online app. The victim had prior acquaintance with at least one of the four individuals, but the reasons for targeting her in this “isolated incident” were not elaborated on.
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The Irvine police rescued the woman after her mother-in-law requested a welfare check, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
