“El Bigotes” Sentenced For Sexual Assault Of Trafficking Victim

TUCSON – A federally convicted illegal alien from Mexico, Jose Pastrano-Rios also known as “El Bigotes,” who is currently serving 60 months in prison, on alien smuggling charges, was ordered to serve an additional nine and a half years in state prison for sexually assaulting a woman he was attempting to smuggle into the United States on May 13, 2017.

“El Bigotes,” age 53, of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico pleaded guilty May 9, to sexual assault. According to state court documents, Pastrano repeatedly raped a woman and subsequently threatened and intimated her. He will not receive credit for time served.

“This additional sentence sends a strong message to predators everywhere,” said Scott Brown, Special Agent in Charge for HSI Phoenix. “Along the border where these assaults can be more prevalent and unreported, HSI will continue to work with our partners to bring those who seek to abuse a vulnerable population to justice for their horrific acts.”

HSI special agents were already investigating Pastrano’s involvement as a foot guide when the woman he was attempting to smuggle was apprehended by immigration officials and brought to a nearby hospital for dehydration. While receiving medical care, she relayed details of the sexual assault to federal agents.

Special agents were able to obtain articles of clothing from both Pastrano and the victim for analysis which yielded positive results for semen. HSI drafted a search warrant to collect DNA from Pastrano for comparison with the semen samples recovered from the clothing items; the DNA test returned a positive match to Pastrano.

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El BigotesJose Pastrano-Riossexual assaultsmugglerTrafficking