Overview
- The 150‑year‑to‑life sentence was handed down Monday by Judge Eric Fleming after a jury convicted Orlando Vilchez Lazo on 12 felony counts tied to attacks from 2013 to 2018.
- Jurors found Vilchez Lazo guilty of two counts of kidnapping with intent to commit rape, four counts of kidnapping, four counts of rape by force or fear, and two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object.
- Prosecutors say he posed as a rideshare driver to pick up women leaving bars and nightclubs, then drove them to secluded spots and assaulted them, a pattern that linked four victims in their early 20s.
- Police arrested Vilchez Lazo in July 2018 after undercover officers stopped a vehicle that matched the suspect description and DNA evidence later matched him to assaults dating to 2013.
- The case highlighted early rideshare vetting gaps and the role of modern DNA databases in reviving cold cases, and ICE says Vilchez Lazo is undocumented and could be deported if he is ever released.