Jury Finds Alamogordo Man Guilty in 2023 Kidnapping of Former Friend

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — Ernesto Robles faces up to 27 years in prison after an Otero County jury found him guilty of first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, according to the Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office, which announced the verdict Tuesday. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 13.

Prosecutors say Robles was one of four people who took a woman from her Alamogordo home on June 10, 2023. The victim had once been friends with the group, according to the district attorney's office. The other three were identified as Vanessa Renteria, Samantha Martinez and Luis Balderas.

According to prosecutors, the woman was beaten while being driven to Robles' residence and was threatened with a gun. Once there, she was bound and gagged in a wheelchair, beaten further, and had part of her head shaved.

The district attorney's office said threats made against the woman and her relatives kept her from going to authorities right away.

Two co-defendants have already been sentenced after pleading guilty. Renteria admitted to second-degree kidnapping and bribery of a witness and was sentenced July 14 to 21 years in prison. Martinez pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnapping and received 18 years on July 29.

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