Ohio Polygamist Sentenced for Revenge Torture Plot
An Ohio woman involved in a polygamous relationship has received a 22-year prison sentence after orchestrating a brutal torture scheme against another boyfriend as part of a revenge tactic.
Martina Esqueda, 29, was sentenced on Thursday. She attempted to justify her actions by citing a lack of love in her upbringing, which she claimed influenced her attack on 26-year-old Austin McClellan last year.
Judge Lori Allender expressed her disgust with the case but did not accept Esqueda’s emotional backstory as a mitigating factor.
Esqueda, who resided in a Toledo home with McClellan and several of her lovers, was found guilty of masterminding a plot in which her companions kidnapped McClellan, holding him captive in a motel room and extorting him for more than a week.
The group subjected McClellan to severe physical abuse with metal bats and denied him basic necessities, allowing him to eat and drink only once a day.
During sentencing, Esqueda’s defense argued that her troubled past fueled her violent actions. They claimed she was a victim of childhood abuse, which her attorney Morgan Eisenberg argued contributed to her inability to understand love.
However, the judge dismissed this narrative, stating that Esqueda had channeled her unresolved trauma onto others, thereby perpetuating a cycle of abuse.
McClellan later informed the court that the horrifying experience had lasting effects on him. He expressed, “If you hadn’t been the driving force behind all this, it wouldn’t have happened.”
The events leading up to this case unfolded on March 14 last year when Esqueda’s husband, Michael Esqueda, alongside her other partners, forcibly abducted McClellan after a fight erupted at her home.
Esqueda claimed to have injured her arm while trying to prevent another altercation involving a dog, although she later misrepresented the circumstances to her lovers.
McClellan was ultimately freed several days later when his captors allowed him to visit a convenience store.
Esqueda was convicted on charges of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree felony assault. Her husband and three accomplices have also been found guilty, with the last perpetrator, David Cessna, set to be sentenced next week.
