St. Louis — Leobardo Barraza was convicted of one felony count of kidnaping which resulted in death, United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced in a press release issued Monday morning.

“Even after ten years, Ms. Eloiza and her son deserve justice, and as evidenced by the jury verdict, and the extraordinary work of many law enforcement agencies and the trial lawyers, justice was served,” said Hanaway. “When no other jurisdictions would pursue charges on behalf of these victims, Dean Hoag and the Cook County Prosecuting Attorney’s office partnered together to prosecute this defendant.”

According to court documents and testimony presented at trial, in August 1998, Barraza kidnaped Maria Eloiza and her son Jesus Ramirez in August 1998, they were both killed after they were kidnapped. Eloiza, who was living in the Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights, told a friend that she was going to Mexico with Barraza, a former co-worker to pick up drugs and transport them to Barraza’s uncle in Detroit, Mich. She was going to be paid $40,000 for her assistance in getting the drugs across the border and delivered to Detroit.

Barraza suggested that they take her 5-year-old son Jesus with them to make it appear like a family traveling. When she and her son did not return, family members reported them missing. When authorities searched her room, they found a handwritten note from Eloiza saying she was going to Mexico on business with ‘Leo,’ and if she did not return to look for her. Barraza’s phone number was written on the note. Police contacted him and he denied going to Mexico with her. Witnesses at trial testified that Barraza had told them that he and a friend, Jose Hernandez, took Maria and her son to a park near St. Louis where Hernandez raped and killed Maria while Barraza killed her son.

In November 1998, two hunters found their skeletal remains in the woods in Stanton, Mo. Stanton is located between Sullivan and St. Clair along Interstate 44. Barraza, 26, formerly of the Chicago area, was convicted of one felony count of kidnaping resulting in death. The six-day trail was held before Senior United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh. Barraza now faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 15, 2008.

Hanaway commended the work on the case by the following law enforcement officers and attorneys who spent countless hours to bring this case to trial and ultimately this guilty verdict; Detective Mark Porlier and Detective Sergeant Al Steffen of the Prospect Heights, Ill., Police Department, Officer Adam Sandoval of the Colorado Springs, Colo. Police Department, the Wheeling, Ill., Police Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, the Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, William Delaney, John Duffy and John Maher of the Cook County, Ill., State’s Attorney’s office, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Ferrara, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois; and Assistant United States Attorney Dean Hoag, who prosecuted the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri.

Co-defendant, Jose Jesus Hernandez was indicted on the same charges and is a federal fugitive. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty.