A Grand Forks man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the kidnapping of another man to collect a debt. Court documents say Kyle Maez-Schaack, 33, was ordered by another person to kidnap the victim, who owed $6,000 for 500 grams of methamphetamine.
Maez-Schaak and others held the victim at gunpoint and took him from Fargo to Moorhead where he was held for ransom. The victim escaped after being left alone in the Moorhead home.
Maez-Schaack was allegedly used as a distributor for a drug trafficking group that sold meth in the Fargo-Moorhead and Devils Lake areas. He pleaded guilty in February to charges of kidnapping, drug trafficking conspiracy, showing a gun during the kidnapping and felon in possession of a gun.
“Too often drug trafficking is perpetuated by violent crime, as shown by Maez-Schaack,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas W. Chase for the District of North Dakota. “Our office, working alongside our federal and state partners, will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those committing violent acts and trafficking illegal drugs in our community.”
“Stopping violent offenders like Kyle Maez-Schaack is one of the FBI’s top priorities,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson of the FBI Minneapolis Field Office. “This defendant, a previously convicted felon, kidnapped a victim at gunpoint, demanded ransom of the victim’s friends and family, and trafficked methamphetamine into our community. Now, he will rightly spend the next 30 years of his life in federal prison. The entire Red River Valley and Devil’s Lake communities are safer for that fact. The FBI will not stop in our mission to make our communities safe by bringing violent criminals like Maez-Schaack and his accomplices to justice.”
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