3 sentenced for abducting drug dealer

ATLANTA (AP) - Three men have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for taking part in kidnapping a drug dealer who was kept chained and tortured in a suburban Atlanta basement to force payment of a $300,000 drug debt.

Federal authorities say the July 2008 abduction of Oscar Reynoso of Rhode Island illustrates the type of violence that has spread into the U.S. as Mexican drug gangs compete for turf and trade.

Prosecutors say 20-year-old Victor Abiles Gomes and 19-year-old Omar Mendoza-Villegas each were sentenced Tuesday to 24 years and six months in prison, and 23-year-old Gerardo Solorio Reyes got 26 years and seven months. They pleaded guilty in March to federal hostage-taking and related charges.