Federal authorities take over kidnapping case after New Kent charges are dropped

Laura Evelene Sorensen (left) and Aldair Hodza (right) accepted a plea deal during federal court proceedings in Richmond that stemmed from a Iowa kidnapping that resulted in their arrest on Jan. 6.

Charges of abduction with intent to defile lodged in New Kent against an Iowa couple at the center of an alleged brutal kidnapping during which a young woman allegedly endured torture, starvation, and sexual abuse have been dropped. The case and the suspects are now in the hands of federal authorities.

County commonwealth’s attorney Linwood Gregory announced the decision to drop the local charges and transfer custody of the suspects to federal authorities today (Wednesday) in New Kent General District Court. The suspects, Aldair Hodza, 36, and Laura Evelene Sorenson, 31, both of Clive, Iowa, had been scheduled to undergo a preliminary hearing today.

Normally during a preliminary hearing, a judge certifies charges — provided there’s sufficient evidence — to a circuit court grand jury for possible indictments. With federal authorities intervening, however, the legal process as far as the county is concerned has come to an end.

Gregory said he is unsure how the case will unfold within the federal system or what charges will be placed. A federal marshal in court today to take custody of the suspects declined comment on the matter other than to say proceedings are being handled by federal authorities in Richmond.

The first step at the federal level is likely to be an arraignment in federal district court in Richmond, possibly later this week. Federal charges may not mirror those dropped in New Kent, Gregory said, but could relate to human trafficking and could involve multiple jurisdictions since the suspects crossed state lines with their alleged victim.

“I think it’s appropriate [that federal authorities have taken the case] given that [the suspects] crossed state lines and multiple jurisdictional lines in Virginia,” Gregory said.

He added, however, that had the case gone to trial in New Kent and under state code, the suspects, if convicted, could have received up to life in prison.

During today’s proceedings, bailiffs escorted the suspects, both dressed in jail-issued denim and wearing arm and leg shackles, into the courtroom. Hodza, his hair now in braids, acknowledged the presence of his mother, who was seated several rows behind the defense table.

Gregory, meanwhile, motioned to drop the charges, raising objections from the suspects’ respective attorneys, Martin Mooradian and Terry Osborne. Judge Colleen K. Killilea overruled the objections, subsequently agreeing to Gregory’s motion.

Afterward, Hodza’s mother, speaking in broken English, said she had no comment on what transpired in court. But when asked if she believed her son to be innocent of any charges, she replied, “I think so,” then quickly added, “Yeah.”

An alert truck driver is credited with saving the alleged victim, a 21-year-old Iowa woman, after noticing suspicious activity in the parking lot of the Pilot truck stop on Route 106 near the Interstate 64 Talleysville interchange on Jan. 6.

In a call to New Kent sheriff’s dispatchers around 3 p.m., the truck driver said he had watched a male subject exit a recreational vehicle and enter the truck stop’s convenience store several times over a short span. He said he also spotted a young woman peering out of one of the RV’s windows just before someone inside violently snatched her away.

According to an incident report filed by state police investigator Stephanie McFall, the suspects permitted officers who arrived on the scene to enter the RV. Under questioning, the suspects said they were on vacation and in the area to visit Sorenson’s daughter. But McFall noted that the alleged victim appeared frightened while showing signs of malnutrition.

McFall took the woman outside where the alleged victim broke down in tears and begged McFall not to let her return to the RV. She said she was being held against her will, and several days had passed since she last had anything to eat or drink. She also had burns, cuts, and bruises about her body.

The young woman claimed the suspects had used a hot iron to “brand” her. They had threatened to kill her and injure her family, she told investigators. Back in Iowa, her family was unaware of her plight, she said, because the suspects forced her to call home to tell relatives nothing was amiss.

She also told investigators she had been forced earlier that same day to perform oral sex on Hodza, whom she called “John,” and another unknown man inside the RV as it sat in the Pilot parking lot. The encounter with the other man had been arranged through a Craigslist ad.

Both suspects have been held in jail without bond since their arrests on Jan. 6. Bond for Sorenson was denied during a New Kent Circuit Court hearing on Jan. 12.