Brockton Man Pleads Guilty to Kidnapping for Drug Heist

Daniel Pires, 23, of Brockton, stood before a federal judge and admitted to a brutal, armed kidnapping that began in the driveway of a Quincy home. On October 8, 2016, at 10:25 p.m., Pires and an accomplice ambushed a 30-year-old man as he stepped from his truck. He was struck in the head with a revolver, dragged into a waiting sedan, and held at gunpoint while his two young children remained strapped in car seats just feet away.

Pires and co-defendant Malik Bangura, 20, forced the victim into the backseat of the sedan, face-down, while they drove his truck to a secluded area. There, they unloaded approximately 30 pounds of marijuana and $20,000 in cash. The victim, terrified and pleading for his life and the lives of his children, was then driven from Quincy to Brockton, where the gang—now including Sedrick Oliveira, 26, of Stoughton, and Yesenia Diaz, 23, of Brockton—called the victim’s wife demanding $100,000.

The abduction unraveled when law enforcement spotted the suspect sedan in Brockton. Officers recognized the vehicle from a prior drive-by shooting in August 2016 and began surveillance. Once the defendants realized they were being followed, they fled on foot and abandoned the car in a residential driveway. The victim escaped, flagged down police, and led them to the remote location where his truck and children had been left. The two kids were found unharmed.

Yesenia Diaz was arrested at the scene, standing beside the abandoned sedan. She has since pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. Sedrick Oliveira was arrested two days later in Stoughton and has pleaded not guilty to the kidnapping charge. Malik Bangura, 20, was captured in April 2017 and sentenced in January 2018 to 17 years in prison plus two years supervised release. Pires remained a fugitive for over a year before being apprehended in October 2017.

Pires pleaded guilty to kidnapping before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris, who has scheduled sentencing for May 16, 2018. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily O. Cannon of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit in the office of United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. Federal and local agencies, including the FBI, ATF, Massachusetts State Police, Brockton Police, and Quincy Police, collaborated on the investigation and arrest.

The details in the charging documents remain allegations against the remaining defendants, who are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This case underscores the violent intersection of drug trafficking and organized crime in Massachusetts, where armed kidnappings are used as tools for robbery and intimidation. Pires now faces the full weight of federal justice for his role in a crime that terrorized a family and exposed deep underworld tactics.

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