Who Is Luis Uribe? CBP Officer Trial Explained

Luis Uribe is a longtime U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer accused of using his federal badge and weapons to rob and sexually assault women in hotels in the Chicago suburbs.

Federal prosecutors allege Uribe carried out six attacks against four women in Schaumburg and Naperville during 2022. According to the government, he entered hotel rooms while identifying himself as a law-enforcement officer, demanded money and, in several incidents, forced or attempted to force women to engage in sexual acts.

Uribe has pleaded not guilty. His federal trial began in Chicago in September 2026, with his defense acknowledging that he paid women for sex but arguing that he was falsely accused by people connected to a Chinese prostitution network.

What Is Luis Uribe Charged With?

Uribe is on trial on 11 federal charges: 10 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The federal indictment says the civil-rights charges arise from alleged sexual assaults, attempted sexual assaults and robberies committed while Uribe used the authority associated with his position as a federal officer. [U.S. Department of Justice] [Federal Indictment]

Uribe pleaded not guilty after his arrest in December 2025. Prosecutors say he faces a mandatory minimum of seven years in federal prison on the firearm count if convicted and could face as much as life imprisonment. [U.S. Department of Justice]

Is Luis Uribe A Border Patrol Agent?

Uribe is more precisely described as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer rather than a U.S. Border Patrol agent. The indictment says he was employed by Customs and Border Protection and primarily assigned to O’Hare International Airport. His duties included both customs and immigration enforcement. [Federal Indictment]

As a CBP officer, Uribe was authorized under certain circumstances to carry a firearm and make arrests. Federal prosecutors allege he exploited that law-enforcement authority during the attacks. [U.S. Department of Justice]

Uribe had worked for the federal government since 2009, according to a federal judge’s December 2025 detention ruling. [Federal Court Ruling]

What Is Luis Uribe Accused Of Doing?

Prosecutors accuse Uribe of attacking four women during six separate encounters between February and October 2022. The alleged attacks occurred in hotel rooms in Schaumburg and Naperville. Prosecutors say he repeatedly displayed a badge or identification, identified himself as police and used a firearm or other weapon to frighten women into surrendering money or submitting to sexual acts. [Federal Indictment] [Chicago Sun-Times]

The government describes the women as being of Chinese descent and says several were involved in commercial sex work. At least one woman who testified at trial disputed the suggestion that she had traveled to Chicago intending to work as a sex worker. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Prosecutors Say The First Woman Escaped A Sexual Assault By Offering Money

The indictment says Uribe attacked the first alleged victim at a Schaumburg hotel in February 2022. Prosecutors allege he pushed his way into the woman’s room, displayed identification and claimed to be a police officer. [Federal Indictment]

A detention ruling says Uribe allegedly pulled out a firearm, held it to the woman’s head and ordered her to perform oral sex. The woman pleaded with him and instead offered him money, which prosecutors say he accepted before leaving. [Federal Court Ruling]

The indictment charges Uribe with attempted aggravated sexual abuse and deprivation of property under color of law in connection with that incident. [Federal Indictment]

One Woman Was Allegedly Attacked Three Times

Federal prosecutors say a second woman was targeted repeatedly after Uribe first encountered her at a Naperville hotel. According to the government, Uribe forced his way into her room, displayed a gun and badge, demanded money and forced her to perform oral sex. [Federal Court Ruling]

The woman moved to another room at the same hotel, but prosecutors allege Uribe found her again and robbed her a second time. She then moved to another hotel, where authorities say Uribe located her for a third encounter. [Federal Court Ruling]

During the third alleged attack, prosecutors say Uribe demanded money, forced the woman to remove her clothes and raped her. The government alleges he struck her in the face when she screamed. [Federal Indictment] [Federal Court Ruling]

Woman Testified She Was Robbed And Raped At A Schaumburg Hotel

Another alleged victim testified during Uribe’s September 2026 trial about an October 2, 2022 attack at a Days Inn in Schaumburg. She told jurors that she opened her hotel-room door because she thought someone from the hotel was outside. Instead, she said a man rushed inside and displayed a badge. [Chicago Sun-Times]

The woman testified that the attacker displayed a gun, demanded money and forced her to perform oral sex before raping her. She told jurors she had been terrified because he was armed. [Chicago Sun-Times]

The indictment charges Uribe with aggravated sexual abuse, robbery under color of law and brandishing a firearm in connection with the October 2 incident. [Federal Indictment]

The Woman Initially Had Difficulty Identifying Uribe In Court

The October 2 accuser had difficulty identifying Uribe when she first testified. The woman, who speaks little English and testified through an interpreter, initially failed to identify him in the courtroom and became emotional enough that the judge called a break. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Later in her testimony, while describing the assault, she pointed toward Uribe and indicated that she believed she saw the person who had attacked her. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Uribe’s defense has emphasized inconsistencies and identification problems as part of its argument that the women’s accusations are unreliable.

A Fourth Woman Says An Interruption Prevented An Alleged Rape

The fourth alleged victim was attacked in another Schaumburg hotel on October 9, 2022, according to prosecutors. The government says Uribe pushed into her room, identified himself as police, searched her belongings and stole cash. [Federal Indictment]

Prosecutors allege Uribe then displayed a knife and ordered the woman to remove her clothes. She allegedly begged him not to hurt her and said she had children. [Federal Court Ruling]

Authorities say Uribe was preparing to sexually assault her when someone knocked at the door, causing him to pull his clothes back into place and leave. [Federal Court Ruling]

Why Was Uribe Photographed At A Seafood Buffet?

One of the strangest pieces of evidence in the case is a photograph of Uribe eating at the Royal Seafood Buffet in Hoffman Estates. Prosecutors say women connected to a Chinese commercial-sex network had become aware of repeated attacks by someone believed to be a law-enforcement officer. [Chicago Tribune]

A woman who testified under the Americanized name “Lisa” said she already knew Uribe because he had previously paid her for sex. She testified that people overseeing the group asked her to arrange a meeting with Uribe, photograph him and deliver a message intended to stop the alleged attacks. [Chicago Tribune]

The meeting took place at the seafood buffet on March 23, 2022. The photograph later became important evidence when police began investigating additional attacks. [Chicago Tribune] [Chicago Sun-Times]

Sex Workers Allegedly Offered Uribe Free Sex If He Stopped The Attacks

Lisa testified that she was instructed to offer Uribe free sexual services once a week if the attacks stopped. According to her testimony, the message was essentially that he should stop hurting women connected with the group and, in exchange, sex would be provided to him without charge. [Chicago Tribune]

Lisa said Uribe did not deny participating in the attacks during the lunch. She also testified that after the restaurant meeting, Uribe followed the women back to their hotel and had sex with two women without paying because of the offer. [Chicago Tribune]

Federal prosecutors contend Uribe accepted the arrangement but later resumed attacking women. Uribe’s attorneys dispute the government’s interpretation of the encounter and argue the meeting instead supports their claim that he had consensual commercial-sex relationships with people who later accused him. [Chicago Tribune]

What Is The DNA Evidence Against Luis Uribe?

Federal prosecutors say DNA recovered from bedding after the October 2 Schaumburg attack strongly matches Uribe. A federal judge reviewing the government’s evidence before trial said an FBI laboratory found Uribe’s DNA on bedding collected from the alleged victim’s hotel room. [Federal Court Ruling]

Prosecutors have described the statistical match as extraordinarily strong, saying one sample was approximately 97 sextillion times more likely to contain Uribe’s DNA than that of an unrelated unknown person. [WTTW]

The defense does not necessarily dispute that Uribe had sexual contact with women involved in commercial sex. Instead, it argues that physical evidence showing he had sex does not prove the encounters were robberies or sexual assaults. [Daily Herald]

Google And Toll Records Also Put Uribe Near An Alleged Attack

Investigators say electronic records also connect Uribe to the October 2 incident. According to the federal detention ruling, location information showed Uribe leaving his job at O’Hare and traveling west on Interstate 90. While on the highway, prosecutors say his Google account searched Maps for the hotel where the woman was staying. [Federal Court Ruling]

Toll records were also consistent with Uribe traveling to the area at the relevant time, according to the court. [Federal Court Ruling]

The defense argues those records merely show Uribe traveled to hotels where he was meeting women for consensual commercial sex and do not establish rape or robbery. [Daily Herald]

Prosecutors Say Uribe Repeatedly Installed And Deleted A Calling App

The government has also pointed to Uribe’s use of the TextNow communications app. Prosecutors alleged that he installed and uninstalled the service more than 300 times between 2021 and 2023. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Federal prosecutors have characterized the pattern as potential evidence of efforts to destroy or conceal communications. [Chicago Sun-Times]

That interpretation is the prosecution’s allegation and is not itself proof that the application activity was related to a crime.

A Police Detective Recognized Uribe In The Buffet Photograph

North Chicago police detective Jose Sarabia testified that he recognized Uribe when he saw the seafood-buffet photograph in a Schaumburg police bulletin. Sarabia is related through marriage to Uribe’s younger brother. [Chicago Tribune]

Sarabia told jurors that he texted Uribe and advised him to contact police. Messages shown to the jury included Uribe saying he needed to find a lawyer before speaking with investigators and that he was “freaking out.” [Chicago Tribune]

Sarabia testified that when the two later encountered each other at a family birthday gathering, Uribe asked him not to mention the situation to Uribe’s wife and said he would handle it. [Chicago Tribune]

Seeking a lawyer is a constitutional right and is not by itself evidence of guilt.

What Does “Under Color Of Law” Mean?

Uribe is being prosecuted under the federal civil-rights statute 18 U.S.C. §242 because prosecutors allege he used the apparent authority of his government position while committing the crimes. The statute makes it a federal offense for someone acting under color of law to willfully deprive another person of constitutional or federal rights. [U.S. Department of Justice]

In Uribe’s case, prosecutors allege that showing his government credentials, identifying himself as a law-enforcement officer and using weapons associated with his position allowed him to frighten victims into compliance. [Federal Indictment]

The indictment treats the alleged sexual assaults as deprivations of liberty without due process and the alleged robberies as deprivations of property without due process. [Federal Indictment]

What Is Luis Uribe’s Defense?

Uribe’s attorney Michael Clancy says his client patronized sex workers but did not rape or rob them. During opening statements, Clancy acknowledged that evidence would show Uribe met women for commercial sex and described his client as a flawed person whose behavior had harmed his family. [Chicago Sun-Times]

But Clancy told jurors that visiting prostitutes is not what Uribe is charged with.

The defense argues that people connected to a prostitution operation overseen from China viewed Uribe, an immigration officer, as an especially useful target for false accusations. Clancy has attacked the credibility of the women and argued that some previously sought Uribe’s assistance with immigration matters. [Chicago Sun-Times] [Chicago Tribune]

Why Did Uribe Try To Get The Indictment Dismissed?

Before trial, Uribe’s attorneys argued that the grand jury that indicted him had also been involved in the troubled “Broadview Six” prosecution. That separate case collapsed amid allegations involving prosecutorial conduct, and Uribe’s lawyers argued that the same grand jury had therefore been tainted. [WTTW]

U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso reviewed the grand-jury transcripts and rejected Uribe’s request to dismiss the indictment. Alonso found no structural defect or factual basis showing prejudice in Uribe’s case. [WTTW]

The judge also noted that the prosecutor criticized in the Broadview case did not present Uribe’s case to the grand jury and that the two investigations were unrelated. [WTTW]

When Was Luis Uribe Arrested?

Uribe was arrested on December 9, 2025, after the federal indictment was unsealed. He entered a not-guilty plea that day. [U.S. Department of Justice]

A magistrate judge subsequently ordered him detained pending trial. The court concluded that the seriousness of the charges, strength of the government’s evidence and potential danger to the alleged victims and other women favored keeping him in federal custody. [Federal Court Ruling]

Uribe has remained in custody during his trial. [Chicago Sun-Times]

When Did Luis Uribe’s Trial Begin?

Jury selection began on September 8, 2026, and opening statements followed on September 9 at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago. U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso is presiding. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Shih told jurors that Uribe had transformed his public duty to protect people into a tool for committing crimes. [Chicago Sun-Times]

The defense responded that the government’s evidence proves Uribe patronized prostitutes but does not prove he sexually assaulted or robbed them.

Has Luis Uribe Been Convicted?

No. Uribe is currently on trial and remains presumed innocent.

The September 14 testimony involving Lisa and Detective Sarabia is part of the government’s ongoing presentation of evidence, not a verdict. [Chicago Tribune]

The jury will ultimately have to decide whether prosecutors have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Uribe used his law-enforcement authority to commit the charged sexual assaults, attempted assaults and robberies.

If convicted on the most serious charges, Uribe could face life in federal prison. [U.S. Department of Justice]