A Salt Lake City couple admitted in federal court that they helped a handcuffed man escape from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and used bolt cutters to remove his handcuffs in October 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah said in a release on Monday. Kelzie Ryann Luna, 21, and George Sanchez-Juarez, 22, pleaded guilty to theft, disposal and conversion of government property, and aiding and abetting, as charged in the misdemeanor information.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Utah (DOJ)
U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin B. Pead sentenced each of them to four straight days' imprisonment, a $600 fine, $28 in restitution and six months of supervised release, the office said. The guilty pleas and the sentences were entered the same day.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Utah (DOJ)
According to court documents and statements at the plea and sentencing hearings, on October 8, 2025, federal agents were carrying out a targeted enforcement action at a Home Depot in Salt Lake City after identifying four people who had previously been deported. While agents were arresting one person, another man who had been placed in handcuffs escaped from the vehicle and fled on foot across the street, where Luna and Sanchez-Juarez helped him evade arrest in a white Volkswagen Golf — Sanchez-Juarez driving and Luna the passenger. They then allegedly bought bolt cutters to remove the handcuffs and later bragged about helping the man escape while cursing ICE, prosecutors said. The court information, filed in May 2026, charged the pair under 18 U.S.C. sections 641 and 2 over the handcuffs as government property.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Utah (DOJ)
'Obstructing ICE operations and any other law enforcement carries real and serious consequences, including federal charges, imprisonment, and a permanent federal criminal record,' said U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak. HSI Denver Special Agent in Charge Charles Engle said the pair 'knowingly and deliberately interfered with officers performing their duties.' The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd C. Bouton. An earlier DOJ release, when the pair were charged in May 2026, carried the same account of the Home Depot escape.