Bergen County Man Admits to Kidnapping Cab Driver, Slicing His Throat

WALDWICK, NJ - A Bergen County man today admitted that he participated in the December 2015 robbery of a North Jersey bar and the violent carjacking and kidnapping that took place shortly afterwards, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Jostin Reyes, 21, of Waldwick, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court to a three-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery, carjacking and kidnapping.

Reyes admitted that on Dec. 25, 2016, he and others forcibly robbed a bar in Hawthorne, New Jersey, and subsequently fled with approximately $200 in cash. Afterwards, in the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 2016, Reyes and others hailed a taxi in Paterson, and forcibly took the taxi from the driver. Reyes admitted that he and others forced the driver into the back of the vehicle and took over driving. Reyes also admitted that he and others caused seriously bodily injury to the driver by hitting him in the head with a beer bottle and slicing his throat with a knife before eventually leaving him on the side of the road in New York. The taxicab driver survived.

The kidnapping charge carries a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment. The carjacking charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 25 years in prison. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 2, 2017.

Reyes and five other defendants were originally charged by federal criminal complaint in November 2016. Reyes, Wilbur Jonathan Barahona, 21, of Ridgewood, New Jersey, Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta, 19, of Suffern, New York, and Juan Chiliseo-Vega, 20, of Suffern, are charged with the bar robbery, as well as the carjacking and kidnapping that took place afterwards. Balmore Carrillo-Iraheta, 19, of Suffern, and Oscar Avalos-Cortez, 23, of New City, New York, are only charged with the bar robbery.

Chiliseo-Vega and Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta previously pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to separate information in connection with their involvement in the conspiracy. They await sentencing.

The charges against Barahona, Balmore Carrillo-Iraheta, and Avalos-Cortez are still pending.