ST. LOUIS – A bounty hunter from the New Orleans area appeared in federal court Tuesday and was sentenced for abducting a St. Peters, Missouri, woman and taking her across state lines against her will.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Wayne D. Lozier Jr., 46, has been in custody since March 31, 2022. He was originally convicted in September 2023 on one count of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, his conviction and sentence were overturned by the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals due to an issue with a jury instruction.

Rather than face retrial, Lozier pleaded guilty to the same charges in March 2025. The U.S. District Court judge overseeing the case sentenced Lozier to the three years he’s already spent behind bars, meaning Lozier will be released with time served.

In May 2019, Lozier and his partner, Jody L. Sullivan, drove from Louisiana to Missouri to find the victim and take her to St. Tammany Parish (in Louisiana, a “parish” means “county,” in simple terms), where the victim had an outstanding warrant for four misdemeanors. They’d been hired by a bond service.

On May 9, 2019, Lozier and Sullivan found the victim at her friend’s home in St. Peters. They handcuffed the victim, put her in their SUV, and left. The homeowner called the police.

St. Peters police called Lozier and told him he was breaking the law and needed to return the victim. Lozier ignored the police.

During a stop in Sullivan, Missouri, the victim sought help from employees at a gas station and asked them to call St. Peters police. However, Lozier used a Taser and shocked the victim multiple times and pulled her hair. Lozier and Sullivan dragged the victim back to their vehicle by the chain connecting the woman’s handcuffs and legs.

St. Peters police again contacted Lozier and told him to return the victim, but Lozier refused.

Neither Lozier nor Sullivan held licenses from Missouri’s Department of Commerce and Insurance to operate as bounty hunters in the state.

Ultimately, Lozier left the victim at a detention facility in Mississippi before returning home, where he received $500 plus expenses. The victim remained at the detention facility for approximately a week before her release.

Both Lozier and Sullivan admitted to taking the woman against her will and bringing her across state lines.

Sullivan, 57, pleaded guilty in September 2023 to the kidnapping and conspiracy charges. She was sentenced in December 2023 to five years of probation.