A Utah trucker who pleaded guilty to keeping women as sex slaves in his semi-trailer as he drove across the country was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison.
Timothy Jay Vafeades, 56, sexually assaulted and brutally beat the victims almost daily after trapping them in his truck and forcibly grinding down their teeth, federal prosecutors said.
One woman told a judge that her months-long ordeal began when she got into his truck to go to dinner with him. She started to worry when realized they weren’t going toward any restaurants.
“He then said, ‘I got you now. You are mine,'” she said. The vampire-obsessed truck driver controlled nearly every aspect of her life, including how she used the bathroom, she said.
Vafeades, wearing glasses and a gray striped jail jumpsuit, gave a short, emotional apology at a sentencing hearing.
“I am sorry for my life. I am sorry for not recognizing myself and what a monster I am,” he said.
U.S. District Judge David Nuffer said the abuses the women said they suffered were some of the worst things he’d ever come across.
Reading their statements was traumatic, “and I didn’t have to live it,” he said.
The judge handed down a sentence in line with a plea deal Vafeades made with prosecutors. Nuffer also ordered treatment and a lifetime of court supervision after his release.
Vafeades also suffered serious abuse as a child and repeated that pattern with his victims, his lawyer Vanessa Ramos said, though she disputed unspecified details of the victims’ accounts.
Prosecutors said Vafeades was obsessed with vampires, calling his truck the “Twilight Express” and using Photoshop to make images of himself with coffins.
He wore his own set of vampire fangs, but his habit of grinding down his victims’ teeth wasn’t related to his fascination — he did it to fix some perceived flaw and instead left them with permanent damage, said prosecutor Trina Higgins.
“He had the ability to manipulate and brutalize these women beyond anything we could comprehend,” she said.
He abused six women in similar ways over two decades, she said. Charges were filed charged in two cases of women aged 18 and 19. The other cases date back up to 20 years and were too old for criminal cases when the allegations came to light, authorities have said.
Vafeades was arrested after officers at a Minnesota weigh station noticed bruises on the 19-year-old woman’s face and discovered an old restraining order barring Vafeades from contacting her, according to charging documents.
She knew Vafeades and voluntarily came to work with him, but when she decided to leave he attacked her, prosecutors said.
After his 2014 arrest, a second woman went to authorities to report she had been held captive in Vafeades’ truck, according to the warrant.
Vafeades pleaded guilty in June to two counts of transporting for illegal sexual activity. Two kidnapping charges were dropped in exchange.
Higgins acknowledged the sentence could be considered short for the seriousness of the charges, but the plea deal brought closure to the victims and spared them from having to testify, she said. Had he gone to trial he could have gotten a maximum of about 25 years, she told the judge.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Jesus, that is just sad. I pray the girls can have a normal life. This guy should be electrocuted slowly every day. He ruined lives and now he gets to eat 3 meals a day? Anyone see the problem with that? I DO.
I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY THE PROBLEM WITH THE DEATH PENALTY. ONLY TEXAS.AND FLORIDA HAVE THE BALLS TO USE IT. TOO MANY BLEEDING HEART JUDGES, LAWYERS, DA’s LINING THERE OWN POCKETS.
so what WAS the sentence handed-down upon this scumBAG?
what’s ‘in line’ with his plea-deal?
There is an article about Clinton supporter are not accepting Trump as their President. The magazine editor claimed that ,What a bunch of cry babies. He did not realized that Trump himself, before his election told hat he will think about accepting Clinton ad the President. However, Obama being an educated and civilized person has cordially invited Trump and his gang of wives and kids of different shades to the white House for showing him the ropes. I am wondering ,how the White House is going to accomodate Trump his four wives and a dozen children? Are there that many bed room or they are going to put out tents in the lawn for Trumps fried wives and failed and current children?
Ben Mizrahi
Trump has had 3 wives. Not a gang of wives. He has 5 children. Not an army of children. All one shade. Not different shades. He said he would not concede the election until he was sure that the election wasn’t rigged. Which anyone should do. He never said that he wouldn’t accept Hillary as his president. And the Clinton supporters are not only acting like cry babies, they are acting like THUGS! It was a free and fair election and their candidate didn’t win, thank God, so man up and go with the flow.
I would love to see the results of a Nation wide pole concerning how the Republican supporters feel about continuing to donate to the RNC . During this past Presidential campaign the RNC along with several members from Director Priebus to notables like the Bushes , Paul Ryan, and several other RHINO’S portrayed themselves. The Bushes in particular claim to be and always did portray themselves as Republican did not support President Elect Trump during his campaign. If they are part time Republicans then they need to leave the Party and seek a new one they can be loyal to. Paul Ryan talked big about his non-support when he thought that Mr. Trump was not going to make it happen. When the tables started to turn then he waffled and started supporting Mr. Trump with weak support at the very best. I also wonder what these individuals would have done if the tables were turned when they were seeking as much support as they received during their campaign runs? Being Retired I did contribute to Mr. Trump as much as I was able to and personally would have donated to the RNC during this long hard fight but they also dissed Mr. Trump when he was the best Republican candidate they had in years. I decided to withhold any of my funds to any one organization or person that would not render the proper support to Mr. Trump! In this contest I’m sure that every that every vote and every Dollar counted. I would sincerely appreciate some feedback on my request. Respectfully Submitted, Mr. Raymond Silipino.
I’d like to see Trump start his own party – Patriot. The repubs have pee’d all over themselves, too out of touch to be salvaged.
I would love to see the results of a Nation wide pole concerning how the Republican supporters feel about continuing to donate to the RNC . During this past Presidential campaign the RNC along with several members from Director Priebus to notables like the Bushes , Paul Ryan, and several other RHINO’S portrayed themselves. The Bushes in particular claim to be and always did portray themselves as Republican did not support President Elect Trump during his campaign. If they are part time Republicans then they need to leave the Party and seek a new one they can be loyal to. Paul Ryan talked big about his non-support when he thought that Mr. Trump was not going to make it happen. When the tables started to turn then he waffled and started supporting Mr. Trump with weak support at the very best. I also wonder what these individuals would have done if the tables were turned when they were seeking as much support as they received during their campaign runs? Being Retired I did contribute to Mr. Trump as much as I was able to and personally would have donated to the RNC during this long hard fight but they also dissed Mr. Trump when he was the best Republican candidate they had in years. I decided to withhold any of my funds to any one organization or person that would not render the proper support to Mr. Trump! In this contest I’m sure that every that every vote and every Dollar counted. Respectfully Submitted, Mr. Raymond Silipino.
Mr. Silipino, I gave as much as I could to the Trump Team, as well, when his own campaign people were soliciting. But, then I started getting 2-5 emails a day asking for more. I almost did a second time until I saw that the RNC was benefitting from it. That little tidbit was in microscopic print at the bottom of the page. After the way they treated Mr. Trump, I refused to give anymore. No doubt about it, several Republicans running for office AND the RNC did him wrong. I will NEVER give the RNC a penny. They were begging for more money, but it wasn’t used to help the Trump Team. It was apparently split among the other candidates. You know, Mr. Trump had MANY high profile and LOYAL supporters from beginning to end. What Paul Ryan did was pretty low down. To think that Ryan was going to vote for Mrs. Clinton instead of Mr. Trump is pretty disgusting. He knows what kind of a person she is and where she was going to take our country…RIGHT DOWN THE TOILET! When you stop and think about the mountains of adversity Mr. Trump overcame to literally SKUNK his opponent, it truly is a miracle from God. I’m very grateful that she was defeated, as a Hillary Clinton administration would have been a deadly nightmare for us all!! Blessings to you , sir!
Why didn’t he get life without parole? 20 years? Are you kidding me. So what, then he could get out and do the same thing all over again. These judges are way too lenient. Probably appointed by Bill Clinton or Obama or some other Lib. Throw away the key on this piece of garbage!
I agree. In arab countries, if you steal, you lose your hand. An eye for an eye. That would stop criminals like this. They do it because their sorry lives will get 3 meals a day until they get out. That’s B.S. and you law enforcement people and judges know it. I’m telling you right now, if it was a kid of mine, he would never make it to court.
Can I get a Amen out there !! Thank you !