MIAMI (WSVN) - A 24-year-old man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for kidnapping a rideshare driver at gunpoint and forcing the victim to drive from Texas to South Florida.
Miguel Alejandro Pastran Hernandez, who pleaded guilty to the charges, received his sentence Thursday.
A judge sentenced Pastran Hernandez to 60 months for kidnapping and carjacking and imposed an additional mandatory 84-month term for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime, to be served consecutively.
According to court documents, the incident began on Aug. 16 in Arlington, Texas, when Pastran Hernandez pulled a gun on a rideshare driver, ordered them to avoid law enforcement, and demanded they travel to Florida.
During the two-day journey, he armed himself with a loaded handgun found in the victim’s car and used it to threaten the driver.
Upon arriving in Miami Beach, authorities said Pastran Hernandez surveilled the home of a social media influencer, intending to kidnap them or a family member for ransom.
The following day, he forced the driver to stop at a store in Hialeah for supplies related to the planned abduction.
Law enforcement confronted Pastran Hernandez at the store, prompting him to flee. He was arrested hours later, where officers recovered the victim’s loaded handgun and additional weapons in his belongings.
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