A self-proclaimed Mexican drug cartel member who kidnapped a Lander woman and reportedly tortured her with power tools, shot her in both legs and trapped her in a dog kennel, was sentenced last week to life in prison.

Adolfo Vargas Lepe, 61, is appealing that sentence before a higher court, according to a Tuesday filing in the U.S. District Court for Montana.

Lepe was originally charged with kidnapping in 2023 , on evidence he kidnapped his ex-girlfriend from her mother’s home in Lander, confined her for six hellish weeks, and pistol-whipped, shot, beat, stabbed and choked her.

He was indicted with four more counts in 2024, including a charge of kidnapping a child from Mexico and other states in 2018, one drug-delivery charge , one firearm charge and another charge saying he a

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