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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a challenge to the arrest of a Utah truck driver accused of keeping women as sex slaves in his semi-trailer as he drove across the country.
U.S. District Judge David Nuffer ruled against Timothy Jay Vafeades in a decision filed Monday in Salt Lake City.
Nuffer decided troopers had reason to arrest Vafeades when they found a protective order barring him from contacting a woman who was with him when he stopped at a Minnesota weigh station in 2013. Nuffer denied a motion to toss evidence from defense attorneys who argued the order was no longer valid.
Vafeades, 54, has pleaded not guilty to charges including kidnapping and transporting for illegal sexual activity. A defense attorney did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the ruling Wednesday.
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