Man sentenced to life in prison in kidnapping case

A Newport Beach resident was one of two men sentenced Friday to life in prison for kidnapping a businessman to extort $80,000 from him.

Cuauhtemoc Agustin Reyes, 33, of Newport Beach, and Arthur Frank Zavala, 37, of Huntington Beach, were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole on convictions of kidnapping and kidnapping with extortion, according to Orange County prosecutors.

In November 2001, an unnamed businessman, referred to as John Doe by prosecutors, was followed by three men, including Reyes, and dragged into a car outside of Fry’s Electronics in Fountain Valley, according to prosecutors. They took him to a Travelodge in Costa Mesa, where Reyes was renting a room. Zavala hit the businessman, threatened him and showed him photos of his family, saying they would suffer if the victim didn’t cooperate, prosecutors said. Reyes took those and other surveillance photos of the businessman, according to prosecutors.