SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 30, 2026 (Gephardt Daily) — Two Salt Lake City residents have been federally charged for allegedly helping a suspected illegal alien flee ICE.
The pair helped the hand-cuffed suspect escape from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in their vehicle, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Utah said in a Thursday news release. They also allegedly used bolt cutters to remove the handcuffs, prosecutors said, and then bragged about the encounter on social media.
Kelzie Ryann Luna, 21, and George Sanchez-Juarez, 22, both of Salt Lake City, were charged by misdemeanor information on May 8 of this year.
According to allegations in court documents, on Oct. 8, 2025, federal agents were attempting a targeted enforcement action at a Home Depot in Salt Lake City after they had identified four previously deported aliens.
“While federal agents were arresting one of the suspects, another suspected illegal alien, who was placed in handcuffs, escaped from the vehicle and fled on foot across the street where two people, later identified as Luna and Juarez, helped him evade arrest in a white Volkswagen Golf.”
Luna and Juarez then allegedly purchased bolt cutters to remove the handcuffs and later bragged about helping the illegal alien escape from his lawful arrest while also cursing ICE. Luna was identified by law enforcement as the passenger, and Sanchez-Juarez was the driver of the Volkswagen.
They are charged with theft, conversion, and disposal of government property, and aiding and abetting. Their initial appearance is scheduled for May 29, 2026, at 3 p.m. in courtroom 8.4 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.
U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah made the announcement.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security .
Assistant United States Attorney Todd C. Bouton of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case.
