24-year sentence for Lino Lakes man for drug, gun crimes tied to kidnapping and torture

A Lino Lakes man has received a 24-year prison term for drug trafficking and gun possession in connection with kidnapping and torture allegations.

Jose Angel Chapa-Aguilera, 24, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis after pleaded guilty in September to one count each of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Chapa-Aguilera, who also goes by Luis Antonio Gomez-Ruiz and "El Capo," allegedly severely injured a man after hours of torture that followed a drug debt dispute at a Brooklyn Park home in December 2021. According to charges, Chapa-Aguilera barricaded the victim in the house's crawlspace.

The man, who escaped once Chapa-Aguilera left the home, suffered burns, broken ribs and a large laceration above his eye. His injuries required a blood transfusion.

Law enforcement seized meth from Chapa-Aguilera's home soon after the alleged torture. Authorities captured him on Jan. 7 and found him with a gun. A felony conviction in Anoka County for second-degree assault barred him from possessing any firearms or ammunition.

Ahead of sentencing, prosecutors in a court filing pushed for Chapa-Aguilera to receive a term near the top of federal guidelines, which recommended 25 years in prison.

The defense had sought "a sentence considerably lower than the government's recommendation."

After Chapa-Aguilera and his parents moved to Minnesota from Mexico when he was a toddler, the defense explained, "his mother coerced him to stop attending school so he could work to help his family financially."

After an arrest at age 20, he was deported to Mexico but came back to the United States. "He resorted to crime" because he was "unable to attend school or obtain lawful employment," the filing continued.

Chapa-Aguilera was charged in January with first-degree assault and kidnapping in Hennepin County in the December incident in Brooklyn Park. He pleaded guilty to the assault count and was sentenced Monday afternoon to a term of slightly more than eight years. The kidnapping charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.