Fresno Woman Pleads Guilty to Kidnapping a Mother and Child, and Transporting Them from Fresno to Mexico Against Their Will

Claudia Gonzales, 39, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to kidnapping involving a minor, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, on May 8, 2024, a woman reported her boyfriend after a domestic violence incident, which resulted in his arrest. In retaliation for calling the police, the boyfriend's sister, Rosa Ventura, 35, of Fresno, persuaded the woman to place her 5-month-old daughter in the care of another sister. Ventura, with Gonzales hiding in the back of the SUV, then drove the woman and her 9-year-old daughter to an unknown field outside Fresno.

At the field, Gonzales emerged from the SUV's rear cargo area and sat in the front seat. Throughout the night, Ventura and Gonzales continued to drive the mother and child against their will toward the Mexican border. At one point, they stopped at a gas station where the mother and child attempted to flee. Gonzales chased the 9-year-old girl and forced her back into the car. Gonzales and Ventura then caught the mother and used a stun gun to physically force her back into the car. When Gonzales and Ventura arrived in Tijuana, Mexico, they dropped mother and daughter at an unknown bus station in an effort to prevent the mother from testifying in the domestic violence case where she was a victim.

The 5-month-old daughter was kept in Fresno out of the victim's custody from May 8, 2024, until November 2024.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Fresno Police Department are conducting the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Veneman-Hughes and Cody S. Chapple are prosecuting the case.

Gonzales is scheduled to be sentenced on May 18, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston. Gonzales faces a statutory minimum of 20 years to a maximum of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

Ventura is set for trial on April 23, 2026. If convicted, she faces a statutory minimum penalty of 20 years to a maximum of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; Ventura is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.