Two men accused of abducting a 17-year-old boy, handcuffing him and driving around with the boy in the trunk of their car are guilty of kidnapping and misdemeanor assault.

A state jury returned the verdicts Wednesday against Bladesin-Isaiah Bailey and Andrew Josiah Rodriguez.

They each face mandatory 20-year prison terms for the kidnapping at sentencing in March.

Their lawyers had argued that the defendants handcuffed Ezra Kualaau, now 19, and put him in the trunk of their car May 15, 2010, because Kualaau kept fighting with them and trying to run away after they confronted him about stealing money from a friend. Bailey and Rodriguez were 19 and 18, respectively, at the time.

Witnesses who saw the defendants put Kualaau in the trunk of a car at Waiau District Park called 911 and gave a description of the car and its license number.

Kualaau also called 911 on his cellphone from the trunk of the car.

Referring to a popular 1980s television show, Kualaau said he "MacGyvered" his body, or improvised, contorting his back and arms to reach his telephone and use it to call 911 and his mother, and even send his mother text messages, while his hands were cuffed behind his back.

Prosecutor Kristine Yoo said Kualaau’s recorded 911 calls corroborated his testimony that the defendants attacked him and refuted the defendants’ claim that Kualaau had attacked them.

After he spent about an hour riding in the trunk, Kualaau said, the defendants took him to a Moanalua Valley park and released him still handcuffed. He walked to a nearby house for help.

Their lawyers said Bailey and Rodriguez didn’t remove the handcuffs because they didn’t have the key.

Police stopped the defendants on Salt Lake Boulevard, but by then Kualaau had already been released.