4 sent to federal prison for Va. kidnapping plot

ROANOKE — Four men who pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in a plot to kidnap the wives of wealthy Roanoke-area men and hold them for ransom are going to prison.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said 20-year-old Mohammed Hussein Guhad, 19-year-old Joshua Kasongo and 20-year-old Luke Elbino were sentenced Monday to 5½ years in prison. The fourth man, 18-year-old Anthony Boyd-Muse, received 4½ years.

Prosecutors say the defendants drove through Roanoke County neighborhoods to identify houses where they believed wealthy people lived, then would research intended targets on the Internet.

The men were arrested after a thwarted attempt by Guhad, Elbino and Kasongo to kidnap a woman on April 9.