Two Fresno Women Sentenced in Kidnapping Case Involving Mother, Children

Two Fresno women were sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms on Monday for their roles in a kidnapping scheme that involved a mother, her young daughter, and the woman’s infant child, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston sentenced Rosa Ventura, 36, to 20 years in prison and Claudia Gonzales, 39, to 17 years in prison after both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap involving a minor, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

According to court documents, the victim was a young mother from Mexico who had two daughters and had met Ventura’s brother, later becoming pregnant with his child. Ventura helped bring the mother and her older daughter to the United States despite their lack of legal status.

After the family settled in Fresno, the mother gave birth to a second daughter. Prosecutors said tensions escalated after the woman reported Ventura’s brother to police for domestic violence on May 8, 2024, leading Ventura to plan the kidnapping in retaliation.

The following day, Ventura told the mother she needed help and arranged to pick her up. The mother left her five-month-old baby with a relative before Ventura drove her and her older daughter away, later meeting Gonzales, who was concealed in the trunk of Ventura’s vehicle.

Suspects Threaten Mother, Drive to Mexico

Prosecutors said the two women then took the victims to an open field, threatened the mother, and drove south toward Mexico. At one point, Gonzales allegedly used a stun device to restrain the mother during an attempted escape at a gas station, and Ventura took their phones before crossing the border into Tijuana.

The mother and her daughter were later abandoned at a bus stop in Tijuana around 4 a.m., prosecutors said. Ventura allegedly told the mother the fate of her infant depended on what happened in her brother’s case.

The mother and daughter remained in Mexico for seven months while seeking assistance to recover the baby before U.S. law enforcement brought them back in December 2024. The infant was reunited with her mother in Fresno that same day.

A federal grand jury indicted Ventura and Gonzales in January 2025 on three kidnapping-related counts. The two were arrested following their guilty pleas in February 2026.

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