Four men have pleaded guilty in a scheme to extort money and heroin by kidnapping an 8-year-old boy, according to the Baltimore State's Attorney's office.
Raheem Taylor, Randy Ennis, Gary Stokes and Nathaniel Booker pleaded guilty on Friday to charges related to the incident on July 11, 2011, prosecutors said.
The boy was walking with another child in the in the 300 block of Gwynn Avenue in the Allendale neighborhood, authorities said, when Taylor threw him into the trunk of a green car driven by Stokes. They took the boy to a vacant building in the 300 block of Lyndhurst Avenue where Stokes bound him with duct tape.
The boy's father later received text messages demanding $30,000 and 100 grams of heroin for the return of his son, prosecutors said.
A witness called 911 after seeing the child leave the vacant building and he was returned to his family.
Police later linked the text messages to Nathaniel Booker's phone and they executed a search and seizure warrant on his home, where they recovered the phone.
Police recovered Ennis' fingerprints and DNA from the house and determined he was responsible for watching the child.
Taylor and Stokes pleaded guilty to kidnapping and extortion. Taylor received a 25-year sentence with all but 10 years suspended and five years of probation. Stokes received 10 years for each charge.
Booker pleaded guilty to extortion and conspiracy to extort. Ennis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to extort. They are awaiting sentencing.
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