United States Drug Enforcement Administration

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New York Division Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III, New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan, and New York City Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch issued statements today on the resolution of charges against Jonathan HUERTAS, aka “El Don,” who is sentenced to serve a combined total of 11 years behind bars for orchestrating two kidnappings and vicious assaults in connection with a drug-related dispute, and for related federal supervised release violations. 

HUERTAS was sentenced to nine years in New York State prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision, on charges of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, Kidnapping in the Second Degree, and Assault in the Second Degree in January 2025 in Manhattan Supreme Court. Yesterday, in a related court proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), HUERTAS received an additional sentence of two years in federal prison, the maximum term of imprisonment for violations of supervised release. This proceeding concluded the prosecutions of HUERTAS.

HUERTAS evaded arrest for a year and a half before facing prosecution in New York City. He fled in early 2022 after learning authorities sought his arrest for orchestrating two kidnappings and brutal assaults in the Bronx, and was ultimately arrested in Guadalajara, Mexico. Three co-conspirators who were arrested in 2022 have since been convicted and sentenced. 

DEA New York Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino said, “Drug dealing is a dangerous and violent game, as we have seen with the orchestrated kidnappings and vicious assaults conducted by Jonathan Huertas. The DEA and our law enforcement partners remain committed to tracking down those individuals responsible for these types of violent crimes, no matter where they seek refuge, and bring them back to courtroom to face the consequences for their actions.”

Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan said, “Today marks the last step in a long and ultimately successful effort to hold Jonathan Huertas accountable for orchestrating kidnappings and brutal assaults to further his Bronx based narcotic trafficking operation. Even after Huertas fled to Mexico, dedicated law enforcement teams never abandoned efforts to assure that Huertas was found, returned to New York for prosecution, and received appropriate punishment for his crimes. The collective efforts of local, state, federal, and Mexican authorities brought this prosecution to a fair and just conclusion.”

NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said, “Jonathan Huertas orchestrated kidnappings, torture, and drug trafficking — then thought he could outrun the law to avoid justice. But thanks to the tremendous work of NYPD investigators and our law enforcement partners, he's exactly where he belongs: behind bars. And our city is safer because of it.”

The investigation was conducted by DEA NY Division, the New York City Police Department (NYPD), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) New York Field Operations, and the New York State Police. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and Mexican authorities also provided assistance. 

Agents and officers tracked HUERTAS to Guadalajara, Mexico, where he was arrested on a federal warrant and subsequently deported from Mexico to the U.S. HUERTAS pleaded guilty and was sentenced in New York County Supreme Court on January 16, 2025, on charges brought by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor (SNP), while related federal charges were pending.

The investigation revealed that HUERTAS arranged two kidnappings and assaults in response to the theft of narcotics. Portions of the kidnappings were captured in audio and video recordings recovered in court authorized searches of cellphones and iCloud accounts. A surveillance system at 1853 Bronxdale Avenue, in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx, captured HUERTAS, his co-conspirators, and two victims entering and exiting a basement apartment where the assaults occurred.

A court-authorized search of the basement apartment resulted in the seizure of over four kilograms (nine pounds) of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and para-fluorofentanyl, drug paraphernalia, and a loaded handgun. Law enforcement also recovered plastic twists, duct tape, an iron and other materials indicating that a potential kidnapping may have occurred inside of that apartment. 

In the first kidnapping, a video recording showed HUERTAS repeatedly threatening a male victim (MALE-1) and placing a heated iron on his exposed buttocks while the victim was physically bound and held against his will on January 29, 2022. Another video revealed HUERTAS melted a plastic bottle above the exposed buttock of MALE-1, causing hot plastic to drip on the victim’s skin. 

During the second kidnapping, which occurred in the early morning hours of January 31, 2022, two co-conspirators transported a second male (MALE-2) into the basement apartment at 1853 Bronxdale Avenue and placed a heated iron on the exposed buttock of MALE-2. The two co-conspirators were in text communication with HUERTAS and a video of MALE-2 being restrained and assaulted was forwarded to a Signal account associated with HUERTAS. 

HUERTAS committed the criminal activity of which he now stands convicted while on supervised release on a federal oxycodone conspiracy conviction from 2014. A federal warrant for failure to comply with provisions of his supervised release was the basis for his arrest in Mexico. Today, U.S. District Court Judge Lorna G. Schofield sentenced HUERTAS to two years in federal prison for violations of supervised release to run consecutively with his New York State prison sentence.

Special Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan thanked Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their assistance and cooperation, and commended Assistant District Attorney Andrés Torres, Co-Chief of SNP’s Special Investigations Bureau, Senior Trial Preparation Assistant Jose Saldana, and lead Digital Forensic Analysts J. Patrick Slattery and Victor Roman for their work on the investigation.

Special Prosecutor Brennan also commended DEA NY Division, the NYPD, CBP New York Field Operations, and the New York State Police. Assisting in the investigation were DEA Miami Division, HSI New York, HSI Miami, New York/New Jersey Port Authority Police Department, the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the Yonkers Police Department, the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), the U.S. Marshal’s Service and Mexican authorities.