Chicago man sentenced to 50 years for kidnapping, theft in Naperville, Westchester

A federal judge sentenced a Chicago man to 50 years in federal prison on Wednesday for conspiring to kidnap several people at gunpoint, including one in Naperville.

U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso assigned the 50-year sentence to Sedgwick Williams, 48, of Chicago, after a federal jury in 2024 convicted Williams and codefendant Tai Hon La, 35, of Beach Park, of participating in the kidnapping scheme and related charges, according to the Northern District of Illinois U.S. attorney’s office.

La will be sentenced on June 3.

Williams participated in two kidnappings — in Naperville and Westchester — in the fall of 2019. Williams and La attempted a third kidnapping in South Holland but were arrested fleeing the intended victim’s residence, officials said.

The first kidnapping occurred in Naperville on Oct. 17, 2019. The conspirators, who also included Jonathan Vargas, 38, of Chicago, posed as police officers to handcuff and abduct a man at gunpoint outside his electronics store, officials said.

The men then burglarized the store, forced the victim into their car and drove him to Chicago, where they assaulted him and extorted his family, officials said.

A month later came the kidnapping and theft in a case that involved four kidnapping victims in Westchester, with the conspirators posing as federal agents. They attempted the third kidnapping on Dec. 11, 2019, but the attempted target was able to call 911 to reach South Holland Police.

Vargas is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5, and another Chicago man who pleaded guilty in the case, Ivan Ayers, 37, is set for sentencing on June 10.