TOLEDO, Ohio (Court TV) — A woman was sentenced to spend at least 22 years behind bars after pleading guilty to kidnapping and assaulting a man in Ohio.
Martina Esqueda cries as she reads an apology in court on May 21, 2026. (Court TV)
Martina Esqueda, 29, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and two counts of felonious assault; she was the sixth defendant in the case to plead guilty to similar charges.
“This case has really kind of sickened the Court,” Judge Lori Olender said as she began handing down the sentence on Thursday.
Martina Esqueda was arrested in March 2025 along with five men with whom she had been living in a home; one of them was her husband and the others were also involved in romantic relationships with her. Aaron Bradshaw, Austin Bradshaw, David Cessna, Michael Esqueda and Chance Johnson were all charged with kidnapping, felonious assault and tampering with evidence after the victim in the case was able to escape and ask for help.
In a statement read on his behalf in court, the victim in the case, identified as A.M., said he arrived at the defendant’s home one day and then was never allowed to leave. “I endured abuse from every one of these individuals for the entire two years I was held there,” he said. “Martina is a deceitful, manipulative and cruel woman who enjoyed hurting me and watching others hurt me.”
The victim suffered numerous injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken sternum and fibula; the victim was beaten repeatedly both with fists and a baseball bat, investigators said. The victim was not permitted to eat food, use the bathroom and was kept in conditions Olender called “disgusting.”
“This, in all ways, was a cult,” Olender said Wednesday. “Not a giant cult, but it was a small cult. Seems like people came in, but you weren’t allowed to leave.”
“My broken bones healed in a few weeks’ time, but I was immobilized and physical therapy lasted much longer,” the victim said in his statement to the Court. “The torture I endured was unthinkable and barbaric. You didn’t treat me like a human being.”
Martina Esqueda’s attorney, Morgan Isenberg, acknowledged the severity of the case at Wednesday’s sentencing hearing. “The facts are bad,” she said. “The facts are heavy, and quite frankly, the facts are embarrassing to all the parties involved.”
Isenberg told the Court about the defendant’s horrific childhood, which was marked by sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather that began when she was just 3 months old. At 9, she was sent to live with her father, who “passed her off as a hooker and gave her away to people for money,” Isenberg said. “She did not understand love, because she never felt it.”
Martina Esqueda read a letter of apology to the court, saying she took full accountability for her actions. “I deserve to sit and think about my behavior and actions,” she said. “I also want to admit I was a monster, and I’m sorry.”
Olender sentenced Martina Esqueda to consecutive sentences; she will serve a minimum of 22 years and a maximum of 33 years before her release.
