California jury convicts man of kidnapping girl for ransom

SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) — A San Mateo County jury has found a 68-year-old man guilty of orchestrating the kidnapping of a 9-year-old girl more than two decades ago to hold her for ransom.

The San Jose Mercury News reports Kevin Tayueh Lin faces seven years to life in prison after being convicted Thursday.

Prosecutors alleged Lin arranged for two men to snatch the girl as she walked from school to her Hillsborough home in December 1995 to hold her for an $800,000 ransom from her parents, whom Lin met when he sold her father a luxury car.

She was released unharmed when her abductors realized her parents were in Taiwan and wouldn’t pay the ransom.

Lin, a native of Taiwan, evaded authorities for 22 years until 2017 when he tried to renew his visa.