A man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping a Philadelphia woman off the street and holding her hostage for nearly three days learned his fate Thursday afternoon.
Delvin Barnes, 38, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. His sentencing comes months after he pleaded guilty to abducting Carlesha Freeland-Gaither.
"It was an act of robbery in the beginning, and it turned into other things," Barnes told the court last year.
Barnes, who had earlier confessed, confirmed he abducted the 22-year-old nursing aide in hopes of getting money from her to travel south to Virginia to see his daughter there before facing charges for an earlier attack.
The violent November 2, 2014 attack, which was captured on surveillance video, shows Barnes grabbing Freeland-Gaither moments after she stepped off a bus and throwing her in a car parked along W Coulter Street in the city's Germantown neighborhood. Once in the car, the young woman struck Barnes with a hammer, which led him to threaten to kill her if she didn't stop, said prosecutors.
Investigators tracked Barnes and captured him in Maryland three days later. He told detectives that he selected his abduction victim at random.
Barnes, who authorities have described as a "vicious predator," was charged federally a day after his arrest.
As part of the plea deal, he also admitted to raping and trying to kill a Virginia teen in early October 2014. Investigators said Barnes hit her with a shovel and took her to a mobile home where he doused her in bleach and gasoline before she escaped.
