A Paxton man and Loda man have each entered guilty pleas to armed robbery and kidnapping charges. Both men admitted to their roles in the abduction, beating and robbery of a Paxton businessman last December.

25-year-old Rodolfo Cerritos of Paxton and 25-year-old Evigan Marcos of Loda will be sentenced December 1. They face 6 - 30 years in prison for armed robbery and 3 - 7 years for kidnapping.
Cerritos and Marcos are the second and third defendants to plead guilty in connection with last December's crime against businessman Joel Hastings.

23-year-old Eduardo Samano of Berwyn, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and was sentenced to three years of probation and 180 days in the county jail.

Charges against 43-year-old Manuel Santoyo were dropped.

Santoyo was ordered to pay $8,466 in restitution to Hastings and his family. The court order was also to apply to Marcos and Cerritos if they were convicted.

Police had said the men forced Hastings into his car, restrained him, and beat him with a gun and baseball bat as they drove him around Ford and Iroquois counties. The kidnappers released Hastings if he agreed to pay $50,000.

Arrests were made following a multijurisdictional investigation that included assistance by the FBI.

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