BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut cab driver convicted in an extortion scheme that involved kidnapping immigrants at a bus station is facing sentencing.
Carlos Hernandez potentially faces a term of life in prison when he is sentenced Monday in federal court in Bridgeport.
A lawyer for the 56-year-old Hernandez is asking a judge for mercy and a sentence significantly lower than life.
Hernandez and fellow Bridgeport cabbies Francisco Betancourt and Lucilo Cabrera were convicted by a jury last year of kidnapping, extortion and conspiracy crimes.
Prosecutors say the scheme involved tricking immigrants into cabs at the Port Authority terminal in New York and driving them around until they or their relatives paid a ransom, usually about $1,000.
Betancourt was sentenced last week to 14 years in prison and Cabrera awaits sentencing.
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