Final Sentences Given in Ca. Kidnappings

Associated Press

Published: February 21, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The last two of six defendants were sentenced Wednesday in a kidnapping case in which four wealthy Russian immigrants and a U.S. businessman were killed even after their loved ones paid a ransom.

Ainar Altmanis, 48, was sentenced to more than 23 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of hostage-taking resulting in death and one conspiracy charge. He was the sixth person sentenced; two received the death penalty.

"I got totally confused in this life," Altmanis, a Latvian who illegally immigrated to the U.S. in 1991, said in Russian through a court translator while looking at family members of the victims. "The life of the person I have become, I do not want it. Please forgive me."

U.S. District Judge S. James Otero sentenced him to 23 years and 4 months in federal prison.

Prosecutors had recommended a 20-year prison term after Altmanis began cooperating and led authorities to the reservoir near Yosemite National Park where the bodies had been dumped in 2001 and 2002.

"Without that cooperation, it's difficult to see how the government could have achieved the results it did," Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Dugdale said. "These victims would still be sitting 300 feet under water with weights attached."

Altmanis wept and apologized repeatedly to Otero. When he finished, Ruven Umansky, the father of victim Alexander Umansky, gave a short statement.

"This man should suffer more than my son," Umansky said. "He should stay in prison the rest of his life."

Defense attorney Ellen Barry said Altmanis was remorseful for his role and had atoned the only way he could - by cooperating with investigators.

Earlier in the day, Natalya Solovyeva was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for her role in the scheme.

Authorities said she lured one victim to a Los Angeles bar, where he was abducted and then forced to contact another man who was also kidnapped. The men were taken to New Melones Lake, about 60 miles west of Yosemite, where they were killed and their bodies dumped in the reservoir, prosecutors said.

Solovyeva, 32, was the girlfriend of Jurijus Kadamovas, 40, one of the men sentenced to death. Iouri Mikhel, 42, also is on death row.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan DeWitt said Kadamovas and Mikhel also were responsible for at least two other killings, one in Turkey and one in Cyprus. The men would have carried out other kidnappings had they not been caught, she said.

"They were planning additional crimes," DeWitt said, noting that the pair were looking into a trip to Aspen, Colo., and a boat show in Florida in an attempt to find more victims.

Prosecutors sought only 11 years for Solovyeva, pointing out that she had cooperated in two previous trials. Her attorneys portrayed her as a victim in the thrall of Kadamovas, who has been accused of physically abusing her.

Otero, however, noted that Solovyeva had been promised a new BMW if she aided in the kidnappings, and that two men would "probably be alive today" had she not taken part.

Solovyeva had pleaded guilty to two counts of hostage-taking resulting in death and one conspiracy charge. During her hearing, she looked intently at Otero as she listened on headphones to a Russian translation of the proceedings.

"I would like to say over and over again how sorry I am for what I did. I am sorry for all the victims," she said in English before being sentenced. "I know I made a terrible choice I will regret for all my life."

In addition to Umansky, the victims were real estate developer Meyer Muscatel; Russian banking mogul George Safiev; Safiev's accountant Rita Pekler; and Safiev's business partner Nick Kharabadze.

All were killed even though their families and friends gave the kidnappers a total of $1.2 million. Prosecutors said the kidnappers used much of the money to buy new vehicles and mink coats for their girlfriends.

Solovyeva, a Russian who came to the U.S. in 1998 on a tourist visa she overstayed, had faced a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The sentencing of Altmanis and Solovyeva marks the end of a six-year criminal probe.

"I hope for the family members it gives an opportunity for some kind of closure," Dewitt said. "It's been very, very hard for them."

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