A Texas man has pleaded guilty in the 2021 kidnapping of a 3-year-old girl in west Birmingham.

Steven Andrew Holguin, 42, of El Paso, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping, said Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona.

Sentencing is set for September.

Birmingham’s West Precinct Officers were dispatched Nov. 4, 2021, to the 3100 block of 17th Street Ensley on a report of a kidnapping. The call came in through a language interpreter line.

Officers learned that at around 6:15 p.m. that Thursday, the uncle and at least one other person forcibly abducted Corina Abigail Salgado Hernandez from the home and fled in a sedan.

Investigators determined the paternal uncle 18-year-old Elis Sadiel Salgado of Atlanta – was at the residence visiting the child.

It was during that visit the abduction took place.

Authorities said the suspects kidnapped the toddler with the intent of taking her to her father, who lives in Mexico.

With Holguin’s assistance, Salgado-Galindo grabbed the toddler and fled the residence.

An Amber Alert was issued and law enforcement along the Alabama/Mississippi state line were provided the description of the vehicle, toddler, and suspects.

That same evening, deputies with the Rankin County, Mississippi Sheriff’s Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle matching the description of Holguin’s vehicle.

Deputies instructed Holguin, who was the driver of the vehicle, to exit the vehicle and walk back to the officer’s vehicle.

Deputies then removed the other individuals from the vehicle, including Corina.

A deputy recognized the toddler from the Amber Alert and sent a picture of her to a Birmingham detective.

The detective showed the picture to the toddler’s mother, who confirmed that it was her daughter.

Both men were taken into custody.

Holguin was convicted in 2020 in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas for conspiracy to transport aliens. He was sentenced to six months in federal prison and three years of supervised release.

Salgado-Galindo, a citizen of Mexico, was in the U.S. illegally. On Dec. 14, 2021, he was turned over to ICE custody.

Homeland Security Investigations, Birmingham, investigated the case along with the Birmingham Police Department, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the Pearl Mississippi Police Department, and the Rankin County Mississippi Sheriff’s Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White prosecuted the case.