Second Man Sentenced In Kidnapping, Assault Of NJ Store Employee: Feds

PATERSON, NJ — A man from Queens was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in kidnapping a Paterson bodega employee and demanding money from the victim's family, federal officials said.

Reginald Law, 39, was one of two people accused of dragging the man from the store in 2020, before driving him to New York City and demanding that his family pay $200,000 for his return.

Law pleaded guilty to kidnapping and Hobbs Act robbery last July. Alina Habba, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, announced his sentencing on Friday.

Accomplice Maurice Cottman, of the Bronx, had already been sentenced to 15 years in prison after also pleading guilty to kidnapping, as Patch reported previously.

Officials said Law and Cottman went into the bodega on Oct. 8, 2020 and abducted the 70-year-old victim at gunpoint, then tossed him in the back of a U-Haul.

Later that morning, officials said that Cottman called the man's family and demanded as much as $200,000 for his return.

Law and Cottman also forced the victim to give them his debit card and PIN, which they used to take out money from his bank accounts, Habba's office said.

Police saw the U-Haul in Harlem, New York, later that afternoon. When officers approached, Cottman and Law fled, according to court documents. After the U-Haul crashed, they fled on foot, officials said previously.

Officers apprehended Cottman that day, and found the victim in the back of the U-Haul. Law was a fugitive until his arrest on May 26, 2021.