A Louisiana man who kidnapped a woman and took her to what police called a 'house of horrors,' filled with trap doors, hidden cameras and other creepy features, has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Mario Perez Roque, 59, of Louisiana, pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy, according to court records obtained by the
New Orleans Advocate.
Authorities said Perez and another man armed with a gun kidnapped a woman who had denied Perez's romantic advances in 2015.
The woman, who has not been named and was 36 years old at the time, was taken to a New Orleans home in which a grave-like hole had been dug into a bedroom floor and hidden cameras watched over rooms. The apartment was said to have had trap doors and two-way mirrors in it as well.
The victim was blindfolded and restrained, but managed to escape and was rescued by a Good Samaritan after being spotted running for her life at a busy intersection, with Perez allegedly in pursuit.
The woman later told police that she didn't get a good look at the second man who kidnapped her.
It would later emerge that the woman was allegedly imprisoned in the suspect's 'dungeon' in a prior incident, when he tricked her into going to the home. During that incident, which apparently occurred during the prior month, Perez was said to have held her against her will all day and night.
Police later arrested Eric Mendoza after he was caught driving driving Perez’s car with a gun in his back pocket. He would go on to plead guilty to a federal charge of illegal gun possession in January 2016 and was given a 10-month prison sentence, according to the the Advocate.
Perez's pleaded guilty to his kidnapping and conspiracy charges Monday after a judge held a conference to check up on the case.
Perez was given the minimum sentence for second-degree kidnapping — the maximum sentence is 40 years — and permanently barred from going near or having any contact with the now 39-year-old victim.
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