U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation

FBI JACKSON, PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Contact: Deborah Madden FBI
(601) 948-5000

Press Release
For Immediate Release
October 14, 2008

ALLEGED KIDNAPPERS HELD WITHOUT BOND

Frederick T. Brink, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Mississippi, announced that EDDIE JAMES PUGH, IV, aka "STRETCH;" BARRON LECOUR BORDEN, aka "BAM"; and TORENDA ANDREA WHITMORE, aka "TORENDA ANDREA BROOKS, aka "TORY" made their initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Robert H. Walker in Federal Court in Gulfport, Mississippi today. PUGH, BORDEN and BROOKS-WHITMORE face federal kidnapping charges for allegedly forcing two Louisiana residents into a vehicle and driving them across state lines into Mississippi on October 8, 2008. These federal charges are the result of a joint investigation conducted by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the Jackson County, Mississippi Sheriff's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Magistrate Judge Walker ordered the three to remain in custody until 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, October 16, 2008, at which time they will have a preliminary/detention hearing.

The FBI Safe Streets Task Force is a member of the Gulf Coast HIDTA initiative and receives significant funding from the Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington D.C. It is made up of Special Agents from the FBI and law enforcement officers from the Pascagoula, Moss Point, Gautier, and Ocean Springs Police Departments, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

The public is reminded that a warrant for arrest contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial, at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.