DENVER — A man who posed as a rideshare driver in Denver and was convicted of 30 counts related to the kidnapping, assaults and attempted assaults of a dozen women has been sentenced to nearly 300 years in prison.
John Pastor-Mendoza, now 43, was convicted of those charges in October 2024. He was also convicted of one count of robbery. On Friday morning, Judge Karen Brody sentenced him to 290 years to life in the Department of Corrections.
His defense had asked for a probation sentence, stressing that Pastor-Mendoza has a daughter who is his No. 1 priority. They said this sort of sentence would allow him to "become a better version of himself." Prosecutor Matt Schlager requested the maximum sentence of 294 years, adding that it was not something he was doing lightly. Schlager said he had to wrack his brain to think of another case where he had asked for the maximum sentence on every charge, and for those sentences to run consecutively.
Just ahead of the sentencing, Pastor-Mendoza spoke briefly in front of the court about how he "never touched anybody in my whole life," always followed the rules, and called himself "the sweetest guy in this world."
Judge Brody said his actions were "predatory conduct" that warranted a substantial sentence in prison. She then handed down a 290-year sentence.
The charges stem from incidents between 2018 and 2022, where Pastor-Mendoza pretended to be a rideshare driver, picked up women using an app and then either sexually assaulted them in the car or at another location. Of the 12 people he was convicted of kidnapping, he sexually assaulted two and attempted to sexually assault seven, according to the Denver District Attorney's Office.
He was initially charged in October 2022. Denver7 obtained his arrest affidavit after he was taken into custody, and according to the document and prosecutors, he picked up many of the women from bars in Denver’s LoDo neighborhood before they were attacked, but the last three assaults all happened after women left Tracks Denver, located at 3500 Walnut St.
In 2022, prosecutors listed out the known dates of the assaults and where the victims had been at the time:
- Sept. 16, 2018 — The Matchbox, 2625 Larimer St.
- Dec. 29-30, 2018 — Beta Nightclub, 1909 Blake St.
- March 9, 2019 — LoDo area
- March 17, 2019 — LoDo’s Bar and Grill, 1946 Market St.
- Aug. 15, 2021 — The Irish Rover Pub, 54 South Broadway
- Sept. 23, 2021 — Speer Boulevard and 13th Street
- March 4, 2022 — Tracks Denver, 3500 Walnut St.
- May 13-14, 2022 — Tracks Denver, 3500 Walnut St.
- July 8-9, 2022 — Tracks Denver, 3500 Walnut St.
The victims received Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner examinations and recovered DNA was put into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). All matched for the same suspect, according to the affidavit. There was evidence the assaults were violent, as the victims reported bruises, abrasions, pain and, in some cases, signs of strangulation, the affidavit reads.
A detective contacted Tracks Denver nightclub and an employee said they knew of a man who matched the suspect's description and visited the club regularly. The employee said they knew the man as a rideshare driver.
Pastor-Mendoza was arrested on Aug. 19, 2022 after a victim identified him as the suspect.
When police searched his home on Aug. 21, 2022, they found a box containing 18 cell phones. At least two of the phones belonged to victims who were named in the affidavit.
In addition, the search warrant obtained by Denver7 revealed the women were drugged before the assaults. Controlled substances allegedly found in the suspect’s home included tranquilizers, amphetamines, muscle relaxers, hallucinogenic drugs and marijuana concentrate. All the victims describe ordering a rideshare home, blacking out, and waking up to being assaulted.
Several of the survivors spoke at the sentencing hearing on Friday ahead of the judge's decision.
They described the burden of grief and the numbness they felt after the trauma. The women who are named in this article gave Denver7 permission to do so, and some did not want their last names used.
"It was cruel, unjust, and an outright violation of the most basic human rights," one woman said.
Survivor Rachel Perry recalled fighting hard against Pastor-Mendoza, to the point where she felt she had scared him more than he had scared her. She said the defendant thought all of the women were weak, and he was wrong.
"John Pastor-Mendoza's disregard for the law and human decency is matched only by his complete hatred of women," survivor Erika Rinnert said.
"Most people grow out of their fear of monsters — I grew into mine," survivor Katie Duvall told the court.
"I was dehumanized and had no worth in his eyes — I was trash," another woman named Katie said. "I was discarded in a parking lot."
Many detailed the fear and shame they still feel on a daily basis on their journey toward healing, and urged the judge to award the maximum sentence to keep the public safe.
At a press conference afterwards, eight of the 12 survivors spoke about what this sentence means to them.
"Today is a good day. I'm happy, and I think this goes to show that no means no," Leslie said. "The important part is we were able to be brave enough to say this stops here."
"It really takes talking with these women to understand like, it's not your fault, being told it's not my fault, telling them it's not their fault. And understanding no matter what I did, there was nothing that entire night that made any sense for it to be my fault," Cassie said. "It's a club that we're all a part of now, and maybe it's not the best club, but these are the best girls."
Juliana Garcia — who was the last woman assaulted by Pastor-Mendoza — read her victim impact statement in Spanish as well, ensuring the defendant understood her words.
"I really just wanted to make it, kind of like a last punch from me," Garcia said. "He messed with the wrong girls."
Marie DeFoe said the 290 years does not make up for the time she has lost with her family as a result of the trauma. Still, she said this case is a sign that survivors can be believed.
"If you do come forward, you're going to be believed, you're going to be cared for, and justice will be served, and you don't have to stay quiet," DeFoe said. "I would hope that the community, if anyone else has been a victim, has been impacted by sexual assault, that they would feel confident to come forward and know that they also have people behind them."
In mid-November 2024, Denver7 spoke with six of the women at the center of the case about their encounters with Pastor-Mendoza.
You can hear from the women in our extended interview clip below.
“Pastor-Mendoza victimized 12 women in a calculated, cruel and contemptible series of crimes over four years,” said District Attorney John Walsh in a press release. “Judge Brody’s severe sentence is entirely appropriate. We should all be grateful for the courage of Pastor-Mendoza’s victims, who came forward and testified at trial to ensure that Pastor-Mendoza will no longer have the opportunity to harm our community."
The district attorney thanked the prosecutors, investigators, victim advocates, paralegals, detectives and digital evidence analysts who were involved in the case.