Elias Gudino, 59, of Copley, played a role in the kidnapping of four Youngstown men, three of whom were found bound, gagged, shot in the head and dumped off the road in Copley Township and Akron.
But Summit County jurors in Gudino's murder trial will determine what role he played — the mastermind behind the crime or the pawn of a drug cartel he once worked for, peddling drugs.
Defense attorney Noah Munyer argued his client was the fifth hostage. He was compelled to take part in the triple homicide that he knew nothing about until it happened. If he didn't, the drug cartel could kill his family.
"Is he the fifth hostage, or the mastermind behind it?" Munyer asked jurors, concluding his opening statement.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Zachary Neumann said Gudino was a husband seeking revenge. A roommate of the four Youngstown men started living with Gudino's wife, who recently left him.
"Is it a coincidence that the cartel had him go to the home of a man having a relationship with his wife?" Neumann asked the jury in his opening statement.
Gudino faces six counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder, three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, four counts of kidnapping, one count of having weapons while under disability and one count of tampering with evidence, according to court documents. He also faces numerous 3-year gun specifications, which could carry additional prison time if found guilty.
Munyer said Gudino will take the stand toward the end of the trial, which Summit County Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands expects will take multiple weeks to complete.
Munyer, and his co-counsel John Greven, argued that Gudino was a forced participant in the crime because if he didn't help, his family would be killed.
Gudino initially worked with a drug cartel to earn quick and easy money, Munyer said. He started dealing in small amounts of drugs but eventually tried to sell 8 kilograms of cocaine for the cartel.
"He was caught redhanded with a big pile of cocaine," he said. Sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2009, Gudino was released early in 2017.
During that time, Munyer said, no one from the cartel contacted Gudino, a trend that continued as he built up his trucking and lawn mowing businesses. Then in 2023, a masked individual armed with a gun and two demands knocked on his front door.
He told Gudino he knew where his daughter lived and where his grandchildren went to school, Munyer said. Gudino should come with him and do what he said.
"The people he loves most in the world are in jeopardy for his sins," Munyer told the jury. "So, he gets in the truck, and they go to Youngstown."
In the next few hours, two masked individuals and Gudino kidnapped the four roofers, took them to Gudino's home in Copley, bound and gagged them and wrote "MS13" on their chests.
"That was an effort to throw the police off their scent," Munyer said. "I don't think that worked."
