Bentonville pair sentenced to federal pen for kidnapping

 Roberts Roberts
Roberts Roberts

FAYETTEVILLE -- Two Bentonville men were sentenced to federal prison for their roles last year in kidnapping a woman in Dallas and taking her to Bentonville.

Michael Roberts, 25, pleaded guilty Nov. 4 in U.S. District Court to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Roberts was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Roberts was fined $3,500 and ordered to pay $1,832 victim restitution.

Roberts had faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and fines of $250,000.

Jason Petitt, 25, pleaded guilty Oct. 31 to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Petitt was sentenced to 46 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Petitt was fined $2,000 and ordered to pay $1,832 victim restitution.

Victim restitution was ordered to be paid jointly by the defendants.

"With the sentences announced today, it is our hope that the victim in this case can rest easier knowing that justice has prevailed over the terror that she once faced," U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge said in a news release Wednesday. "The elaborate planning that these defendants went to in order to keep her from testifying against one of them is unthinkable. We will continue to hold those that commit these violent crimes accountable so that the residents of the Western District of Arkansas can live in a community free from fear."

U.S. District Judge Tim Brooks handed down the sentences.

"Roberts and Petitt terrorized the victim and have earned their place in a federal prison," Special Agent in Charge David T. Resch, with the FBI in Little Rock, said in a news release.

Theron Vance, 22, was found guilty March 17 of one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and one count of aiding and abetting, according to court records. He will be sentenced at a later date.

The three men were indicted in August. They are accused of going to Yulu Zhang's apartment in Dallas in June, assaulting her and bringing her against her will to Arkansas.

According to prosecutors, Vance told police about four months prior to the kidnapping he and Roberts began planning and a week before the abduction, he and Roberts drove to Dallas to scout the area.

Vance said he wore a fake FBI badge during the abduction and broke Zhang's cell phone so they wouldn't be tracked. In addition, Vance told investigators the location of several items used in the kidnapping, including a blonde wig, razor blades, plastic ties and a book on human anatomy. Those items were subsequently found by investigators. Vance's vehicle was used to take Zhang from Texas to Arkansas.

Zhang was able to identify Vance as one of the people who kidnapped her and took her from Dallas to Bentonville against her will.

Police rescued Zhang after she left a note with an employee at the Walmart Supercenter on South Walton Boulevard claiming she had been kidnapped and brought to Bentonville. Zhang was locked in the bathroom when police arrived.

Zhang told police she was walking into her apartment when Roberts attacked her from behind.

Roberts told Zhang she could either go with him or he would kill her, according to court documents. Zhang said they left her apartment and Vance broke her cellphone on the sidewalk.

Zhang told police she met Roberts at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro in 2012. They dated, and when she tried to break up with him, he became threatening.

Police warned Roberts to stay away from Zhang and her home but Roberts pulled a knife on Zhang in a train station parking lot, she told police. He was arrested and was facing trial before the kidnapping, according to court documents.

Zhang said Roberts and Vance told her they kidnapped her because they didn't want her to testify against Roberts.

NW News on 04/02/2015

Upcoming Events