EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal judge has sentenced a Tucson, Arizona, resident to six years in prison plus three years of probation for transporting for money an undocumented 18-year-old female whose life he endangered after sexually assaulting her.
The sentence handed out this month by U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker in Arizona involves a Sept. 20, 2023, incident in which Border Patrol agents at a checkpoint on State Route 90 singled out a white Chevrolet Silverado truck driven by Luis Carlos Ballesteros Moreno for further inspection.
Court records show Ballesteros, 43, a Mexican national purporting to have a lawful U.S. work visa and residing in Tucson, raised border agents’ suspicions after showing an expired Arizona driver’s license as his only form of identification.
Agents ran a full check on his status and discovered his work visa had expired and thus had no legal basis to be in the United States anymore. He was placed under arrest.
While waiting to take him to a Border Patrol station for processing, the agents searched the Silverado and found clothing with traces of dirt and brush, as well as toiletries apparently belonging to a female. Border agents confronted Ballesteros about the find and he told them “(my) girlfriend is in the toolbox,” court records show.
The agents opened the toolbox and helped an unauthorized non-citizen only identified as A.E.F.T. out of the confinement.
Records show the teenage female was interviewed separately and told agents a “guide” or smuggler had brought her and five other individuals illegally across the border. The driver of a white pickup came for them along a dirt road and was in the process of transporting them farther north when the vehicle got a flat tire.
A second smuggler’s vehicle came to assist the first driver and then left with five of the six unauthorized non-citizens. Records show Ballesteros allegedly sexually assaulted the woman when they were left alone, and afterward told her to get into the toolbox.
The alleged rape victim told investigators she remained inside the confined space for approximately two hours before the Border Patrol found her and let her out. Court records show evidence presented by federal and Cochise County, Arizona, authorities substantiated the sexual assault. There is no record of the driver and the female migrant ever meeting before.
Ballesteros pleaded guilty to one count of transporting illegal aliens for profit while placing a life in danger. He also forfeited the Silverado to the government. In exchange, the prosecution agreed to dismiss other charges.
The sexual assault of Latin American women migrating to the United States is an endemic problem, according to international aid organizations like Doctors Without Borders. The group in 2017 estimated one in three migrant women are assaulted during their journey; others like Mental Health and Human Rights Info say the number could be twice as high. Most advocates agree such incidents are underreported.
