SoCal man abandoned teen on L.A. freeway after abducting him for forced labor

In the winter of 2025, Brandon Holguin met a teenager at a thrift store, then began frequently contacting the boy by text message, phone call and in person.

Eventually, Los Angeles County prosecutors say, he lured the boy into his car, drove him to several cities across the county, and took the boy’s phone so he could not be contacted or tracked by his mother — all so the teen could help Holguin turn a profit in his online business.

On Tuesday, Holguin, 27, was sentenced to five years in state prison for abducting the boy in May 2025, giving him Adderall, and forcing him to work around the clock to sell used clothing online. He pleaded no contest and was convicted a day earlier of one felony count each of human trafficking for labor, child abuse under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death, and furnishing a minor a controlled substance.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Holguin took the teen to a motel room and put him to work sorting and photographing hundreds of pieces of used clothing for resale on the internet. He gave the boy Adderall to keep him up all night to work, and the amphetamine made the child sick.

The district attorney’s office said Holguin had planned to take the child to Northern California but that, after his plan fell through, he abandoned the child on the side of an L.A. freeway in the predawn darkness on May 5, 2025.

The teenager walked off the freeway and found someone to call 911, the district attorney’s office said. Los Angeles police reunited the boy with his family.

The boy had been reported missing three days earlier, triggering a search that, according to the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, included canvassing the community, wireless emergency alerts, and the use of scent dogs. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Holguin, along with another Thousand Oaks adult who was not charged, four days after the teenager was found.

In announcing the teen’s initial disappearance, the sheriff’s station said the boy struggled with depression and took daily medication for it. Deputies posted a message directly to the boy on social media, telling him: “If you see this message: your parents are very worried about you, and you are not in any trouble. Please contact the nearest law enforcement agency, answer our call … we are here to help and want to get you home safely.”

In addition to his prison term, Holguin was ordered to pay $4,300 in restitution for taking the child’s possessions, the district attorney’s office said.

“Human trafficking often includes a predator luring a vulnerable child into illegal labor exploitation, as in this case,” L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement.

He called Holguin’s crimes “despicable acts.”