'I never raped anybody in my whole life': Customs and Border agent takes stand in federal trial

Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune on Sep 15, 2026

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CHICAGO — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent made the risky move Tuesday of taking the witness stand in his own rape trial, where he repeatedly denied sexually assaulting or robbing Chinese sex workers and said they threatened to frame him after he refused to help with immigration issues.

Luis Uribe, 45, is on trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on a federal indictment charging him with 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. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Over the past week, the jury has heard from the four alleged victims, all of whom identified Uribe as the “fake police” or at times the “bad man” who assaulted them in hotel rooms in 2022, using his gun and badge to force sex and take their money.

But Uribe tried to flip the script in his testimony, saying that all of the encounters were consensual, and insisting that even though he visited prostitutes, he was raised to treat women with respect.

“My mom, she actually had the old birds and bees conversation with me,” Uribe said early in his direct examination. “You respect women, stop when they say stop, no means no, don’t force them….I never raped anybody in my whole life. I never robbed anybody in my whole life.”

Uribe’s proclaimed esteem for women seemed shakier on cross-examination, however, particularly when Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Shih asked him about one encounter where he left work early purportedly for physical therapy, but went instead to a hotel to meet with a prostitute who went by “Tina.”

You never went to the gym, did you? Shih asked.

“I got a good workout in,” Uribe responded.

Shih immediately shouted back: “You’re describing the rape of Tina as a good workout?”

“It wasn’t a rape, it was consensual sex,” Uribe said.

Uribe said he started seeing one of the women, “Lisa,” in 2021 and had paid sex with her more than 10 times. The first time they were together, his wallet fell out of his pocket and she saw his work ID.

“You could see her face lit up, big old smile,” Uribe testified. “Like she hit the jackpot or something.”

Uribe said Lisa almost immediately began asking him to help her with her “immigration problem” which included an expired work visa. He said he looked at her paperwork and gave her some information about free legal services, but but did not specifically help.

“I told her ‘Don’t worry this is Chicago you’re not gonna get deported,'” he said.

At a lunch meeting at a seafood buffet in Hoffman Estates, Uribe said he was offered a bribe by Lisa’s boss, who joined them in a video chat: In exchange for helping with immigration problems and getting more girls into the U.S., he would be paid $7,000 “plus free sex,” he said.

Prosecutors alleged the offer was actually free sex if Uribe stopped attacking women.

Uribe said the threats against him escalated later that year, when Lisa, who he said often “got jealous” when he was with other women, learned he’d had sex with one of the other girls she oversaw.

“She said ‘I know you just seen one of my sisters,” Uribe testified. “If you don’t help me with all my immigration issues…it’s gonna be bad for you. my sisters will testify saying you hurt them.”

Prosecutors alleged Uribe, a veteran agent stationed at O’Hare International Airport who allegedly used his badge and his gun to burst into hotel rooms and rob and rape four women connected with the Chinese sex industry in a series of brazen attacks in 2022.

Prosecutors have alleged Uribe “perverted” his duty to serve and protect, going from investigating crimes to committing them.

But Uribe’s attorney, Michael Clancy, has said that while Uribe is a weak and “flawed” man who indeed visited prostitutes, the alleged victims were liars who had sought his help with immigration issues before setting him up.

But all four women also had trouble at times recalling details of the attacks and seemed befuddled at times when confronted on cross-examination with discrepancies in what they told investigators.

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