United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II announced that Travis R. Landry, 29, of Surry, pled guilty in United States District Court before Judge Nancy Torresen to charges of interstate kidnapping and brandishing a firearm in relation to the kidnapping.
According to court records, in mid-April 2013, Landry responded to an advertisement in Craigslist for the sale of a BMW automobile. On the evening of April 24, Landry met with the BMW’s owner at a location on Riverside Street in Portland and the two took the car for a test drive. After the test drive, Landry told the victim to get into the trunk of the car. The victim complied when Landry displayed a Glock .45 caliber handgun. Landry then drove the BMW, with the victim locked inside the trunk, south out of Maine for about eight hours. When he reached Newark, Delaware, Landry stopped the car in a secluded wooded area and released the victim, who ran away and called local police. On May 7, 2013, sheriff deputies in Granville County, North Carolina, arrested Landry, who was driving the BMW, after a high-speed chase. The Glock handgun was seized from the glove compartment of the BMW.
On the interstate kidnapping charge, Landry faces imprisonment of up to life and a fine of up to $250,000. For brandishing the firearm in connection with the kidnapping, Landry faces a minimum mandatory consecutive sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. He will be sentenced after completion of a pre-sentence report by the United States Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Portland (Maine), Gorham, Killeen (Texas), and Newark (Delaware) Police Departments; and the Granville County (North Carolina) Sheriff’s Office.
