Two Fresno Women Sentenced to 20 and 17 Years in Prison for Kidnapping a Mother and Child and While Withholding Her Infant for Seven Months

FRESNO, Calif. - On Monday, U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston sentenced Fresno residents Rosa Ventura, 36, to 20 years and Claudia Gonzales, 39, to 17 years in prison for conspiring to kidnap a woman and her nine-year-old daughter while unlawfully withholding the woman's five-month-old baby, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, the adult victim was a young mother of a nine-year-old daughter living in Mexico who met Rosa Ventura's brother and later became pregnant with his child. Before she gave birth, Ventura arranged for the mother and her daughter to come to the United States despite lacking legal status.

After settling in Fresno, the mother gave birth to a second daughter. On May 8, 2024, she reported her boyfriend to police for domestic violence, and he was arrested. His arrest angered his family, especially Ventura, who blamed the mother and devised a plan to kidnap her and take her to Mexico.

On May 9, Ventura told the mother she needed help raising money for Ventura's brother in jail. The mother agreed and left her five-month-old baby with a relative. Ventura drove the mother and her older daughter to her home where they waited. While waiting, Ventura contacted her friend and co-defendant Claudia Gonzales to come and help her carry out her plan. Gonzales hid in the trunk of Ventura's car to wait for the next phase of the plan.

Then, instead of taking the mother to retrieve the baby, Ventura drove the mother and daughter to an open field where Gonzales emerged from the trunk and moved to the front and sat with the victims. Ventura then drove south. During the drive, Ventura threatened the mother and warned her she might never see her baby again. At a gas station around 3 a.m., the victims attempted to flee, but Gonzales and Ventura forcibly restrained them. Gonzales used a taser on the mother. Ventura confiscated their phones before driving across the border to Tijuana.

Around 4 a.m., Ventura abandoned the mother and her daughter at a bus stop in Tijuana with no means to return. When the mother asked about her infant, Ventura said it depended on what happened in her brother's case.

While in Mexico for the next seven months, the mother sought help from lawyers, law enforcement, and Ventura to recover her baby. In December 2024, U.S. law enforcement brought the mother and daughter back to the United States and arrested Ventura and Gonzalez. The baby was reunited with her mother that day in Fresno.

On Jan. 21, 2025, a federal grand jury charged Ventura and Gonzales with three kidnapping counts, including conspiracy to kidnap a minor. On Feb. 23, 2026, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnapping involving a minor.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Fresno Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Veneman-Hughes and Cody S. Chapple prosecuted the case.