ST. PETERS, Mo. — It took jurors in a St. Louis court less than two hours to convict a St. Tammany Parish bounty hunter of kidnapping and conspiracy.
According to KSDK, law enforcement reported Wayne D. Lozier Jr., 44, and Jody L. Sullivan, 67, removed a woman from her house in St. Peters, Mo., and took her across state lines.
The two of them were apparently employed by a bail bonds company and were sent to retrieve a woman from Louisiana, who had been staying in Missouri.
"Lozier told the homeowner he didn't need her permission to enter the house," The U.S. Attorney's Office in Missouri said. "They went to the basement, where the Louisiana woman was staying. They handcuffed her and transported her without her consent in their SUV, heading for Louisiana, the trial showed."
Apparently, at a gas station in Sullivan, Mo., the victim asked employees to call the police before Lozier shocked the woman with a stun gun and dragged her out of the store by the shackles that had been put on her hands and legs.
After police asked the bounty hunters to release the woman to local law enforcement, Lozier refused and instead brought her to a Mississippi detention facility, collecting more than $500 from her. The victim sat in jail for a week before she was released.
Now Lozier and Sullivan face a potential life sentence. While Lozier waited for a jury to deliver his verdict, Sullivan pled guilty to the same criminal charges on Sept. 18.
Both Sullivan and Lozier are from St. Tammany Parish. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for December and January – respectively.
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