Truck Yard Murderers Sentenced to Life in Prison Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida Dateline: Miami, Florida Date: 25 March 2025 Subjects: American Government , Crime, Trucking

MIAMI – Three defendants were sentenced to federal prison for conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, multiple counts of kidnapping resulting in death, and kidnapping.

James Edward Daniels, 59, and Frederick Eugene Rudolph, 69, both of Miami, Fla., were sentenced to life in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Herbert Barr, 56, of Miami, the third defendant, was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. The sentences come after Daniels and Rudolph were found guilty of all charges at trial on Dec. 17, 2024, and Barr pleaded guilty to kidnapping on Nov. 26, 2024.

On Dec. 5, 2020, Daniels, Rudolph, Barr and other co-conspirators kidnapped three victims from a truck yard in Opa-locka, Fla. They bound and tortured the victims, duct-taped their eyes and threw them in the back of a rented van after stealing the victims’ drugs. They drove around the city for hours before taking the victims to an abandoned house in Opa-locka and attempting to execute them by shooting the three victims. Two of the victims died, while one miraculously survived.

Daniels stole jewelry from one of the murdered victims, and all defendants benefitted by receiving drugs, money, or both, in exchange for their participation in the conspiracy.

U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO) and Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division announced the sentences.

The FBI Miami Division Homestead Resident Agency, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau and DEA Homestead Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Yara Dodin and Katie Guthrie prosecuted the case.

This investigation was carried out by members of the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force. The South Florida HIDTA, established in 1990, is made up of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies who, cooperatively, target the region’s drug-trafficking and money laundering organizations. The South Florida HIDTA is funded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which sponsors a variety of initiatives focused the nation’s illicit drug trafficking threats. For more information regarding HIDTA visit https://www.dea.gov/operations/hidta.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-cr-20431.

###

Public Affairs Unit

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Southern District of Florida

USAFLS.News@usdoj.gov

Updated March 25, 2025