Feds say drug debt motive in Missouri kidnapping

ST. LOUIS -- A court testimony reveals a drug debt to a St. Louis entrepreneur and his associates was the motive in the November kidnapping of a Maplewood, Missouri, man.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer Brent Nanney presented his testimony at a court hearing Monday. BAM Brands CEO Todd Beckman and four others were indicted last month on kidnapping and other charges in the case. Monday's hearing was called by Beckman co-defendant Kerry Roades, who is seeking to be released on bond before trial.

Nanney testifies Roades and Beckman discussed killing the victim in a variety of methods. The victim was released after relatives paid the kidnappers $27,000.

Nanney said the motive for the kidnapping was the victim owed money to one of the kidnappers who got marijuana from Beckman.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com