DAYTON — Taylor Karas, 25, of Dayton, admitted in federal court today to helping kidnap an elderly man and dragging him across state lines in a violent, hours-long ordeal that began with a lie and ended in a retail parking lot.
Karas pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting kidnapping before Senior U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. She conspired with co-defendants James Marriott and Andrew Azzalina to lure, threaten, and rob the victim over the course of a single day — October 6, 2016.
According to the Statement of Facts, Karas initiated the crime by calling the elderly man and claiming she needed to borrow money. She arranged to meet him at a Dayton-area motel. When he arrived, Marriott brandished a gun, and both Marriott and Azzalina demanded valuables, bank accounts, and credit card information. They seized the man’s keys and forced him into his own Ford Explorer.
Under Marriott’s direction, the trio drove the victim through western Ohio and eastern Indiana, attempting to drain his accounts. They hit a bank in Englewood, Ohio, but left when he couldn’t recall his PIN. They then took him to a Dollar General and later to a Dick’s Sporting Goods in Richmond, Indiana, where they forced him to purchase clothes and supplies.
When they suspected the victim had signaled for help during the Dick’s purchase, the group dumped him at the store and fled in his vehicle back to Ohio. The FBI moved quickly, leading to the October 2016 indictment of all three on charges of aiding and abetting kidnapping and transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines. Marriott and Azzalina face additional charges for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
Marriott, already a convicted felon, also faces charges for illegal firearm possession and being a fugitive from justice, tied to prior guilty pleas for aggravated drug possession and weapons under disability. His trial, along with Azzalina’s, is set for March 6. U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman praised the FBI’s work and credited Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent G. Tabacchi for leading the prosecution.
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Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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