One of two men accused of abducting a Minneapolis Verizon store employee as part of a robbery plot has pleaded guilty to kidnapping, the Hennepin County attorney's office said Tuesday.
Ronald Jackson, 29, of Richfield, will be sentenced April 29.
About 9:15 p.m. on Sept. 11, police got a call from a Loretto woman who said two men in a red vehicle had abducted her 37-year-old husband from their driveway in the 100 block of Chippewa Road as he arrived home from work, according to the criminal complaint.
Police soon found the red vehicle parked north of Hwy. 55 on Pioneer Trail. Jackson and the other suspect, William Graham, were outside the vehicle. The men put their hands up, but fled when police heard pounding from the trunk of the car, the complaint said. Police caught the men, released the victim from the trunk and recovered a gun in a ditch near the car.
At his plea hearing Monday, Jackson admitted that he had kidnapped the victim at gunpoint, tied him up and put him in the trunk. He also said he and Graham asked the victim where the keys to his Verizon workplace were, only to learn that they were still in the victim's car. The two had intended to rob the store, police say.
Prosecutors said they will request a 57-month prison sentence for Jackson. Graham's trial is set for June 22.
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