Wadel sentenced in kidnapping caper
Andrew Wadel, 23, of Rich Hill, Mo., was sentenced Wednesday to 18 years in a in New Jersey prison for his role in the January 2010 kidnapping of Jeffrey Muller of Newton, N.J. Wadel pleaded guilty in March to kidnapping and lesser charges.
New Jersey prosecutors say 61-year-old Jeffrey Muller was abducted from his Newton pet supply store by three men in January 2010. Wadel admitted shooting Muller with a stun gun. The other two alleged kidnappers, Douglas Stangeland of Nevada and Lonnie Swarnes of Rich Hill and are awaiting trial in a New Jersey jail.
William Barger, also of Nevada is being held in a different New Jersey jail on numerous charges relating to the case. The four men allegedly believed Muller was a money broker with the same name who was to blame for a failed land deal. Prosecutors say the men hoped to recoup about $500,000.
Muller was taken from his store, tied up and driven to Missouri, where he escaped after the kidnappers' car broke down. After his escape, the plan fell apart and Barger was implicated, and eventually, another Nevada man, Roy A. Slates also was arrested.
Slates pleaded guilty in a New Jersey court to conspiracy to commit theft by extortion, a second-degree crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Slates will not be sentenced until the other cases are resolved. All five men face charges in Vernon County when the proceedings in New Jersey are concluded.