A Memphis woman pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Hot Springs to her role in the kidnapping of a 17-year-old Hot Springs girl on April 18.
Dayla Diane Ferrer, 20, of Memphis, appeared before Judge Susan O. Hickey and entered a plea of guilty to one count of kidnapping, punishable by up to life in prison, while an additional felony count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, also punishable by up to life, was withdrawn as part of her plea agreement.
Her alleged accomplice, Samuel Wayne Bolling Jr., 38, of Nashville, Tenn., is still set to stand trial on the kidnapping and conspiracy charges on Nov. 29 in federal court as of Wednesday.
Ferrer appeared with her attorney, Deputy Public Defender Morse Gist, who was appointed on June 24 to represent her after she and Bolling were indicted on the charges on June 15 by a federal grand jury.
The prosecution was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bryan Achorn and Carly Marshall. Hot Springs police Sgt. Scott Lampinen, the lead investigator on the initial state case, was also present at the prosecution's table.
Ferrer was originally set for trial on Aug. 29, but the case was continued to Nov. 29 following a motion by Gist. Ferrer signed an agreement on Friday of her intention to plead guilty Wednesday.
Ferrer was escorted into the courtroom by U.S. Marshals shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday clad in a black-and-white striped prison outfit, shackled at the wrists and ankles. When asked by Hickey after sitting down how she was doing, Ferrer answered simply, "I'm all right."
For the rest of the hearing, she responded "Yes, ma'am" and "No, ma'am" to questions from Hickey, then simply "Guilty" at the end of the proceeding when asked for her plea to the kidnapping charge.
Hickey explained that the penalty on the kidnapping charge is a minimum of 20 years up to life in prison with a fine of up to $250,000 or both and there could also be a period of supervised release following her imprisonment. She noted there is no parole in the federal system but Ferrer could accrue up to 54 days a year of "good time."
Achorn read the basic facts of the kidnapping indictment into the record prior to Ferrer's plea, noting that on Feb. 18 and continuing through Feb. 19, Ferrer and Bolling aided and abetted each other in kidnapping the victim, referred to throughout the proceedings as "Jane Doe," to extort money and used the victim's cellphone, which qualifies as "an instrument of interstate and foreign commerce," in the commission of the offense.
Achorn stated that Ferrer approached the victim in the downtown area of Hot Springs asking for her assistance in determining a return route to a specific geographical location. He said she coerced the victim into getting into Ferrer's vehicle and the moment she did "she was immediately attacked and restrained" by Bolling.
Ferrer then drove from the downtown area during which time Bolling communicated with a relative of the victim using the victim's cellphone, Achorn said. During the phone conversation, Bolling demanded "not less than $10,000" or the victim "would be sold to human sex traffickers or cut up into little pieces and disposed of in a lake."
He said Bolling demanded the relative not contact any law enforcement officials and then the call was terminated and the victim's phone was "subsequently turned off and discarded."
Achorn said Ferrer drove the victim and Bolling to a condo where she and Bolling were residing at 4840 Central Ave. where they "forcibly transported" the victim "to their living quarters where she continued to be restrained against her will through the remainder of April 18 continuing over to April 19."
He said Ferrer and Bolling were later identified as the kidnappers and arrested on April 19. When questioned by police, Ferrer admitted to her "voluntary participation in the kidnapping" for monetary gain and that they used the victim's cellphone to make the demands for money.
Achorn noted that the victim was under the age of 18 at the time and that both Ferrer and Bolling were over the age of 18 and neither of them was related to the victim in any way nor were they the legal guardians of the victim.
When asked by Hickey if the account of the incident read by Achorn was accurate, she said, "Yes, ma'am" and that she was willing to give up her rights to a trial and plead guilty to the charge as read. She also acknowledged when asked that the government would be able to prove "all the facts of the case" at trial.
Hickey told Ferrer a presentencing report will have to be completed before a sentencing range in the case is determined, noting it usually takes "about three months." Hickey said she couldn't comment on what the sentence range will be, noting, "I don't know anything about you at this point and I won't know until I get the report."
Hickey remanded Ferrer into the custody of the U.S. Marshals, noting they would likely reconvene for sentencing in "four to six months."
Bolling and Ferrer had remained in custody on bonds totaling $1 million each on their original state charges, which were filed under seal directly to Garland County Circuit Court shortly after their arrests, so the affidavits were not available. A gag order limiting pretrial publicity was also issued in the case.
Bolling and Ferrer are currently in federal custody and not confined at the Garland County Detention Center.
A statewide Amber Alert had been issued for the missing teen the morning of April 19 after she was reportedly abducted around 9:15 p.m. on April 18 from the downtown area after leaving her workplace.
She was found shortly before 3:30 p.m. that same day in the 4700 block of Central and taken to a local hospital, according to an HSPD release. Bolling and Ferrer were developed as suspects and arrested a short time later.