FAYETTEVILLE -- A Rogers man was found guilty in federal court for his role last year in helping kidnap a woman in Dallas and bringing her to Bentonville.
Theron Vance, 22, was found guilty Tuesday on 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.
Legal Lingo
Presentencing Report
Research that is conducted by court services or a probation officer relating to the prior criminal record, education, employment, and other information about a person convicted of a crime, for the purpose of assisting the court in passing sentence. The presentence investigation generally consists of an interview with the defendant, a review of his or her criminal record, and a review of the specific facts of the crime. The report makes a recommendation to the court about the type and severity of the sentence. The court always makes the final decision about the sentence.
Source: Staff Reports
Two other men have pleaded guilty to being involved in the plot. Both are to be sentenced March 31.
Michael Roberts, 24, of Bentonville pleaded guilty Nov. 4 in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Roberts faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and fines of $250,000. U.S. District Judge Tim Brooks accepted the plea.
Jason Petit, 25, of Bentonville pleaded guilty Oct. 31 to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping in a plea deal with prosecutors.
"The sheer terror that this victim faced at the hands of the defendants involved in this case is unimaginable," U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge said in a news release. "For four months they planned a methodical scheme that they then played out in order to keep her from testifying against one of them."
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 to police about four months prior to the kidnapping he and Roberts began planning and a week before to 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 also 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.
"Vance is a criminal who conspired to kidnap and impersonated a FBI agent while carrying out this violent act," said David T. Resch, special agent with the Little Rock FBI Field Office. "He has earned the consequences of his decisions."
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. She said another man, Vance, had an FBI badge and a gun.
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 03/19/2015