Two men who orchestrated kidnappings in Naperville and Westchester and were caught after an attempted abduction in South Holland have been found guilty by a federal court jury.
Sedwick Williams, 47, of Chicago, and Tai Hon La, 34, of Beach Park, were convicted May 22 on charges of kidnapping conspiracy and attempted kidnapping following a two-week trial in Chicago, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Williams also was found guilty on individual kidnapping counts stemming from his involvement in the Naperville and Westchester incidents and for falsely impersonating a federal law enforcement officer in all three incidents, which occurred between October and December 2019, the release said. La was convicted on an illegal firearm possession charge.
Two other defendants are awaiting sentencing in the same cases. Ivan Ayers, 36, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to participating in the kidnapping conspiracy and Jonathan Vargas, 38, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to kidnapping the Naperville victim.
In the first incident on Oct. 19, 2019, the defendants “posed as law enforcement officers to handcuff and abduct a man at gunpoint outside of his electronics store, which they then burglarized,” the release said. They then drove him to a vacant unit in Chicago, where the man was physically assaulted and his family extorted.
The victim required hospital treatment following his release, officials said.
One month later, on Nov. 16, 2019, the men posed as DEA agents to handcuff a man at gunpoint outside his Westchester residence, forcing him and another person into the home’s basement, the release said. When two other people came to the house, they too were forced into the basement while the conspirators stole cash and jewelry and then fled, the release said.
In the the third incident on Dec. 11, 2019, the defendants were thwarted because the intended victim called 911 and the South Holland police arrived before they could get into to the house, the release said.
No sentencing date has been set for Williams and La, who are facing a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The case was investigated with the assistance of the Naperville Police Department, Westchester Police Department, South Holland Police Department, Chicago Police Department, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office, the release said.