Man Featured On America’s Most Wanted Sentenced To 151 Months For Kidnapping

Martin C. Carlson, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced today that Augusto C. Rodriguez, age 63, of Reading, Pennsylvania, and Hialeah, Florida, was sentenced today on federal kidnapping charges. Rodriguez had kidnapped and brutally sexually assaulted his ex-girlfriend during a three-day trip from Middletown, Pennsylvania to Boca Raton, Florida. United States District Court Judge William C. Caldwell sentenced Rodriguez to a 151-month term of imprisonment and further ordered that he pay $11,262 in restitution.

According to U.S. Attorney Carlson, on the morning of April 18, 2005, the victim disappeared in the middle of her shift at the Odd Fellows (retirement) Home in Middletown, Pennsylvania. She was reported endangered and missing to the Lower Swatara Township Police Department who entered the victim’s information into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). Two days later, police were called to a residence in Boca Raton, Florida for a 911 hang-up. When officers arrived they found the victim locked in an upstairs bathroom. After entering her information into NCIC, they learned that the woman was reported missing and endangered. Rodriguez had already fled. During the course of the investigation, the victim told officers that her hands were bound, and she was taken from Pennsylvania to Florida at knife point. During the kidnapping, Rodriguez threatened to kill her if she screamed or caused any problems. Rodriguez remained on the run until he was captured on December 23, 2007, after his profile was aired on America’s Most Wanted televison program.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lower Swatara Township Police Department, Hialeah Police Department and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daryl F. Bloom.