Man found shot dead in burned Carrollton Ridge rowhome was California marijuana dealer held for ransom, feds say – Baltimore Sun

The California man found shot to death inside of burned Carrollton Ridge rowhouse in early May was a marijuana dealer who was taken hostage and held for ransom, according to a federal criminal case unsealed Wednesday.

A Baltimore man was holding Miguel Soto-Diaz, 35, hostage at 325 Furrow St. for 200 pounds of weed and $50,000, according to text messages and photographs included in the criminal complaint.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents arrested 21-year-old Ziyon ‘Fats’ Thompson on Wednesday on charges of extortion and conspiracy to possess and distribute narcotics. He did not have an attorney listed in court records.

Baltimore police officers and firefighters went to the Furrow Street home in West Baltimore on May 8 after getting 911 calls about a fire there. Once the fire was out, investigators found Soto-Diaz’s charred body, bullet casings from a handgun and a gas can inside, according to court papers.

[ A Carrollton Ridge homeowner warned the city months ago there could be trouble. Now, a man is dead, and the house is gone. ]

On the same day as the fire, two people, identified as A.M. and W.M. in the court filing, reported to California authorities that Soto-Diaz was being held hostage in Baltimore for ransom.

Using a prepaid cell phone, also known as a burner, Thompson video-called A.M. earlier in the day on May 8 and showed Soto-Diaz with duct tape over his mouth and his hands and legs zip-tied together, according to the court filings.

Thompson later texted A.M. a picture of Soto-Diaz, which was included in the indictment, with the message: “Papi said send the bags and money so he [Soto-Diaz] can be ok and he said don’t call the police or he want [sic] be coming home. We had a long conversation. 200 bags and 50k.”

A.M. texted back later, telling Thompson: “It’s all bad. My uncles are coming with the feds.”

Thompson called A.M.’s bluff, texting back with laughing emojis and writing: “Y’all not even legal so if yall coming with the Feds tell y’all sell weed.”

Thompson originally had arranged to meet Soto-Diaz as part of a plan to transport large amounts of marijuana from California to Maryland, according to court filings. Federal agents say Thompson went to California in late April to see where the weed was grown, and stayed with A.M. and W.M. for several days.

Shortly after Thompson’s return to Baltimore, another person, identified in court papers as A.F., flew from California to Maryland with a suitcase full of marijuana to sell to Thompson. Soto-Diaz made the next trip, on May 7, to discuss future deliveries and business details when Thompson abducted him, ATF agents wrote in an affidavit seeking Thompson’s arrest.

ATF agents used facial recognition technology to identify Thompson from security footage of him buying the burner phone, after using call records to trace the phone to its activation location, according to court filings.

Agents then used historical cell-tower data for Thompson’s regular cell phone to put him in the area of the fire and shooting, and to track him down later on.

Prince George’s County resident Darryl Brown, who owns the house at 325 Furrow St., had been trying for months to have the people living there as squatters evicted, writing in a court filing that juveniles were using the residence as a “trap house” and that their presence posed a “major fire hazard.” Trap house is slang for a place where drugs are sold.

Brown originally filed for the eviction in December 2021, but COVID-19 court closures meant his request was not granted until mid-April.

Deputies with the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office were scheduled to serve the eviction May 16, eight days after the house burned and Soto-Diaz was found dead inside.

Police records show several calls for service to the address over the past year, but officials declined to release the incident reports, saying that doing so could jeopardize the ongoing homicide investigation into Diaz’s death.

On Nov. 10, 2021, police searched the house. Three days later authorities were called back because of an overdose, according to police records.

On Furrow Street, which extends about three blocks between West Pratt Street and Ashton Street, 58 of 111 properties are listed as vacant by the city.

Little more than a half-mile away on South Stricker Street, three Baltimore firefighters were killed in January after entering a burning vacant rowhouse that collapsed and trapped them inside. The fire was later ruled incendiary, meaning it was either intentionally set or accidental but resulted from other criminal activity.