2 Miami men convicted of kidnappings, 2 murders in Opa-Locka
MIAMI – Two Miami men were found guilty in kidnappings that resulted in the death of two men and traumatic injury of another in Opa-Locka in 2020.
On Tuesday, James Edward Daniels, 59, and Frederick Eugene Rudolph, 69, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, multiple counts of kidnapping resulting in death and kidnapping in a trial before U.S. District Court Judge Roy K. Altman.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 10. Daniels and Rudolph face up to life in prison, criminal fines of up to $250,000 as to each count and up to a lifetime on supervised release.
The three kidnapped men were truckers, including the two who died: Osmar Oliva, 50, and Johan Gonzalez Quesada, 26. Oliva owned Oliva Delivery Corp.
On Dec. 5, 2020, Daniels, Rudolph and other co-conspirators kidnapped three victims from a truck yard in Opa-Locka, according to prosecutors with the Department of Justice.
They bound and tortured the victims, duct-taped their eyes and threw them into the back of a rented van after stealing the victims' drugs, prosecutors said. Then they drove around the city for hours before taking the victims to an abandoned house in the 1800 block of Rutland Street.
They attempted to execute them by shooting the three victims, according to prosecutors.
Daniels was convicted of stealing jewelry from one of the murdered victims, and all the defendants received drugs, money or both in exchange for their participation in the conspiracy, DOJ said.
A third defendant, Herbert Barr, 56, pleaded guilty to kidnapping on Nov. 26.
This investigation was carried out by members of the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force. The South Florida HIDTA, established in 1990, comprises federal, state and local law enforcement agencies who target the region's drug-trafficking and money laundering organizations.
FBI Miami Division Homestead Resident Agency, Miami-Dade Police Department Homicide Bureau and DEA Homestead Office investigated the case.
