Three Acadiana men have been sentenced in a bizarre kidnapping that was set up as a drug deal.
Joseph Lawrence Harrison, 27, of St. Martinville, was sentenced to 18 years in prison; Cody Lajohn Williams, 31, of Breaux Bridge, was sentenced to 25 years in prison; and Drapper Lavar Anthony, Jr., 27, of Youngsville, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
All three men pleaded guilty to federal charges for their alleged roles in the plot, which went down at an Airbnb in February 2023, according to U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown.
Here's how investigators say the incident went down: the three men lured a person from Los Angeles to Lafayette, saying they wanted to make a multi-state drug transaction. After the man arrived in Lafayette, he was kidnapped at gun point, and was held for several hours "in an Airbnb turned safe house" by the three men. They made several ransom demands, including cash - up to $300,000 - as well as a watch that sells for $90,000 and 100 pounds of pot.
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's detectives intercepted the men during the process, and rescued the California man.
Harrison pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and interstate communications with intent to extort back in March, and Williams and Anthony pleaded guilty to the same counts in May, Brown said.
The latest indictment in the case, to which the men pleaded guilty, alleges that they had "affiliated themselves" with people who were trafficking marijuana from California to the Lafayette area. When that relationship started to deteriorate over money and supply issues, the men came up with the scheme to kidnap the victim, the indictment alleges.
Court documents supporting those pleas indicate the men admitted to luring the victim from California to collect a check. Harrison and Williams admitted to kidnapping the victim from the parking lot of his hotel, using a gun, which Williams used to hit him in the head.
Williams directed the victim to follow another vehicle that Harrison was driving, then moved the victim to that vehicle at another location. They took his cell phones, cash, ID card and credit card, then parked in the garage of an Airbnb and tied the victim up and taped him to a chair.
The men then started sending text messages threatening his life if they didn't get $100,000 cash in ransom, along with 100 pounds of pot and a 5711 Patek wristwatch. The court documents say that multiple phone calls and pictures were exchanged among the three, to be used for the ransom demands.
The case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lafayette Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Broussard Police Department and Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office (Corrections Unit).
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys LaDonte A. Murphy and Daniel J. Vermaelen.
