Friday, May 22, 2009
Suspect in Roanoke County kidnapping case pleads not guilty
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A fourth suspect in an alleged plot to kidnap a Roanoke County woman and hold her for ransom pleaded not guilty Thursday and was ordered held pending further hearings.
Mohammed Hussein Guhad, 19, of Roanoke was a senior at Patrick Henry High School when prosecutors say he helped plan a kidnapping.
Guhad is accused of being among three youths who came to the house of Audrey and George Levicki on April 6. Investigators say the trio planned to kidnap Audrey Levicki and hold her in an old camper at the house of the fourth teen, reasoning that George Levicki, the CEO of Delta Dental of Virginia, could afford a large ransom.
The plan was foiled when Audrey Levicki slammed the door on the hand on one of the teens and they fled with a neighbor following them until police stopped their car.
All four teens now face charges of conspiring to commit kidnapping and attempted kidnapping. In Thursday's hearing in federal court in Roanoke, Guhad became the last of the four to enter pleas of not guilty.
His court-appointed attorney, Thomas Blaylock of Roanoke, said he would not challenge the prosecutor's recommendation that Guhad, like his fellow defendants, remain behind bars. Blaylock said he reserved the right to ask for a bond hearing later.
Trial dates have not been set for Guhad, Luke Musa Elbino, 19, of Vinton; Joshua Kasongo, 19, of Roanoke; and Anthony Eugene Boyd-Muse, 18, also of Roanoke.




