A Federal Way, Washington man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for using a firearm during a violent kidnapping, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Daniel Lopez, 25, was indicted by a grand jury on November 6, 2024, for the October 13, 2024 abduction of the spouse of an individual who had defrauded him in a drug deal.
The incident began when Lopez lost $2,500 in a failed cocaine transaction. In retaliation, he kidnapped the Auburn woman at gunpoint from her home. According to court records, two witnesses saw the woman leaving with two men—one armed with a firearm later identified as Lopez. Surveillance video and traffic camera images helped authorities identify Lopez’s vehicle and link him to the crime.
U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said at sentencing that the punishment was warranted because of “the defendant’s use of a firearm in a violent kidnapping . . . and the violent nature of the charged conduct.”
“This defendant has a lengthy and serious criminal history with many of the offenses involving firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “Mr. Lopez has been involved in street gangs since his mid-teens and has committed several violent offenses including robbery, drive-by shooting and illegal possession of guns and drugs. This 8-year prison sentence is focused on protecting the community.”
W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office added: “After losing money in a fraudulent drug deal, Lopez retaliated by violently kidnapping a person involved in the scheme, along with an innocent victim, at gunpoint. He held the victims against their will, directed co-conspirators to force them across the Mexico border, and fled to Texas where he was apprehended by FBI Houston. FBI Seattle is grateful to our partners in the Auburn Police Department and our FBI colleagues in Texas for their commitment to combatting violent crime alongside us, no matter how far the subject attempts to flee justice.”
Investigators determined that after being held for two days near Seattle, both victims were transported by associates of Lopez to the southern border with Mexico and forced to cross on foot. Mexican immigration authorities identified them and transported them to Guatemala; neither victim had legal status in the United States and have since been barred from returning.
Lopez was arrested at a hotel in Houston on October 19, 2024 by federal agents and has remained detained since then.
The investigation was conducted by the Auburn Police Department and FBI offices in Seattle and Houston. Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg prosecuted the case.
