An Hermosillo, Mexico, man, living in Tucson, was sentenced to six years in prison last week, after pleading guilty to transportation of illegal aliens for profit in Sept. of 2023, according to a news release from the United States Attorney's Office, District of Arizona.
43-year-old Luis Carlos Ballesteros-Moreno was encountered in his pickup truck by the United States Border Patrol at a checkpoint on State Route 90 in March of 2023. An hour into the encounter, Ballesteros-Moreno told agents that a female was hidden inside of a commercial-sized toolbox mounted in the truck bed, the news release said.
Agents found an 18-year-old woman inside of the toolbox, who turned out to be an undocumented noncitizen, the news release said.
The woman told agents that she had been sexually assaulted by Ballesteros-Moreno during the transport.
Evidence substantiating the sexual assault was presented during sentencing. The judge found that Ballesteros-Moreno "created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury via the method of transporting the young woman int he exterior toolbox, and that he sexually assaulted and involuntarily detained her during the transportation."
