Man pleads guilty to forcing Lyft driver to travel to Florida for ransom plot

A 24-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to forcing a rideshare driver at gunpoint to drive him more than 1,300 miles from Arlington to South Florida as part of a plan to kidnap a social media influencer for ransom, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced.

Miguel Alejandro Pastran Hernandez’s plea included charges of kidnapping, carjacking, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to a news release.

About 10:30 p.m. Aug. 16, a rideshare driver picked up Pastran Hernandez near Arlington and dropped him off at a gas station that appeared to be closed. Shortly after, the driver heard the click of a gun and saw Pastran Hernandez holding a firearm, according to the release.

The driver offered Pastran Hernandez his possessions and to leave the vehicle.

Pastran Hernandez told the driver he would tie him up and put him in the back of the vehicle but instead made the victim drive to Florida. During the trip, Pastran Hernandez used an app on his phone to see where police were and told the driver to avoid those areas, according to the release.

Sometime during the drive, Pastran Hernandez found the driver had a gun in the vehicle that was unloaded. Pastran Hernandez proceeded to load the gun and keep it on his person throughout the kidnapping, brandishing it at certain points so the driver would continue following his commands.

Once the two arrived in Miami Beach, Fla., on Aug. 18, Pastran Hernandez “surveilled the residence of another potential victim” who is a social media influencer. Pastran Hernandez told the driver he intended to kidnap the influencer or one of their family members for a $3 million ransom, officials said in the news release.

The next day, Pastran Hernandez made the driver go to a store in in Hialeah, Fla., to buy supplies for the kidnapping. Police arrived at the store and Pastran Hernandez left the area on foot.

Officers found him hours later at a park in Hollywood, Fla., with a bag containing the driver’s loaded handgun.

When police searched Pastran Hernandez’s backpack, which was left in the driver’s car, they found multiple Airsoft or BB guns, knives, a black mask, hat, sunglasses, binoculars, walkie-talkies, zip-ties, and other items.

The FBI took over the investigation.

Pastran Hernandez is set to be sentenced Feb. 20. He faces up to life in prison.