A Texas man has admitted his role in a plot to kidnap a three-year-old girl from her Birmingham home, U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona announced. Steven Andrew Holguin, 42, of El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping before U.S. District Court Judge Anna M. Manasco.
According to the plea agreement, the chilling incident unfolded on November 4, 2021. Birmingham Police Department officers responded to a distressing call reporting the abduction of a toddler from her residence.
Investigators determined that Holguin, along with his co-conspirator Elis Salgado-Galindo, snatched the young girl with the intention of transporting her to her father, who resides in Mexico.
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Court documents revealed that Salgado-Galindo, with Holguin’s assistance, physically took the child and fled the scene. The abduction triggered an Amber Alert, rapidly disseminating descriptions of the suspects, the child, and their vehicle to law enforcement agencies across state lines.
Later that same evening, vigilant deputies with the Rankin County, Mississippi Sheriff’s Department spotted a vehicle matching the description provided in the Amber Alert. Holguin, who was driving, was instructed to exit the vehicle. Deputies then safely removed the other occupants, including the kidnapped toddler.
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A deputy recognized the child from the Amber Alert and quickly sent her photograph to a detective at the Birmingham Police Department. The toddler’s mother confirmed her daughter’s identity from the picture. Both Holguin and Salgado-Galindo were taken into custody at the scene.
This was not Holguin’s first encounter with federal law enforcement. In 2020, he was convicted in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas for conspiracy to transport aliens. That conviction resulted in a six-month federal prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release.
His co-conspirator, Elis Salgado-Galindo, a citizen of Mexico, was found to be unlawfully present in the United States. He was transferred to ICE custody on December 14, 2021.
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