CONWAY, Ark. – A man and woman convicted of kidnapping a teenage girl in Hot Springs last year were sentenced to federal prison this week.

Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas said Thursday that 40-year-old Samuel Wayne Bolling Jr. of Hot Springs was sentenced to life in prison while 21-year-old Dayla Diane Ferrer was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the kidnapping that happened in April 2022.

On April 18, 2022, officials said that Ferrer approached the victim in the downtown area of Hot Springs and asked for help. That is when officials said that the teenager got into Ferrer’s vehicle where she was attacked and restrained by Bolling.

According to court documents, Bolling and Ferrer agreed to kidnap the teenager in an attempt to extort money from her relatives. Officials said that Bolling demanded $10,000 from the victim’s family in exchange for her safe return.

Bolling and Ferrer held the teen overnight before releasing her the next day, officials said.

In May 2022, Ferrer initially pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, aggravated robbery, first-degree false imprisonment and first-degree battery. Months later, she pleaded guilty to one count kidnapping. According to a plea deal, a felony count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping was dropped.

In November 2022, Bolling pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and one count of kidnapping. He had initially pleaded not guilty earlier that year along with Ferrer.

U.S. officials said that Hot Springs Police Department, FBI, Arkansas State Police, Garland County Sheriff’s Office, Hot Springs County Sherriff’s Office, and the Atoka (TN) Police Department investigated the case.