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A henchman behind the 1998 horrific botched kidnapping-murder of a restaurant owner in Ventura County has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for his participation in the scheme.
Manuel Vasquez, who had been on the lam in Mexico until he was apprehended in 2023, faced justice Monday after he plotted with two other suspects to kidnap Felipe Arambula, the owner of Taqueria Vallarta in downtown Ventura, due to some unpaid debts.
Vasquez, then 20, and a 19-year-old David Hampton went to Arambula’s home on June 13, 1998, with a plan to kidnap and extort him for money. With him away from the home, they took his wife and young children captive.
They went to the upscale home on the orders of mastermind local poker club owner Jose Alberto Vasquez.
The plot went wrong when Arambula came home and fought with the suspects, only for Hampton to shoot him dead in front of his family. Both suspects then fled.
Hampton and mastermind club owner Jose Alberto Vasquez were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1999.
Manuel Vasquez, now 48, was apprehended in Mexico in 2023 and extradited to Ventura County last year.
He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in September.
Manuel Vasquez’s attorney said his client “accepted responsibility for his role in Mr. Arambula’s death and has expressed genuine remorse for the pain he caused.”
“Nothing can undo what Mr. Arambula’s family has lost,” Chaney said. “I hope this resolution brings them some measure of peace.”
He was also ordered to pay restitution to several of the victim’s family members, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The prosecutor in the case said the family never lost faith that they would receive justice.
“Despite waiting nearly 30 years for justice, the victim’s family never wavered in their belief that
one day all the men responsible for the victim’s murder would be successfully prosecuted,” Senior Deputy District Attorney John Barrick said.
“Special thanks to the Ventura Police Department for their dedication and hard work
regarding this case, which would not have been solved but for their tireless efforts,” he added.
