CRAIG, Colo. (KREX) – A Craig man was sentenced in connection to a February 2022 kidnapping at businessman and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Colorado ranch.

Joseph Beecher, 51, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison after he was convicted of kidnapping, carjacking, using/carrying a firearm during a violent crime and transportation of stolen firearms. He will serve five years of supervision following his release.

According to an FBI press release, Beecher was terminated from his job – which wasn’t specified in the release – on Feb. 2, 2022. He then broke into his employer’s home, stealing two firearms.

Beecher drove to a ranch owned by Bloomberg to kill the former presidential candidate, according to court documents. However, he only discovered a female employee at the ranch.

The Craig man took the woman hostage at gunpoint, forcing her to drive him to the Stage Coach Motel in Cheyenne as he thought of what to do next.

The next morning, Cheyenne Police Department SWAT officers arrested Beecher and saved the woman, the press release said. She was not physically harmed.

Beecher was indicted on March 17, 2022, and plead not guilty four days later.

Agencies that investigated the case were the FBI, Cheyenne Police Department, Rio Blanco Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Craig Police Department.