<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">A Denver judge on Friday sentenced a former ride-share driver to 290 years to life after prosecutors said he abducted a dozen women over four years by falsely posing as the driver they requested.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The man, John Pastor-Mendoza, was convicted in late October on 30 charges related to the kidnapping, attempted sexual assault and sexual assault of the women between 2018 and 2022.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Pastor-Mendoza, 43, who lived in Denver, falsely claimed to be the driver for women who used a ride-sharing app, picking them up outside downtown bars and clubs.</p><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-small css-1189og3 e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-zgakxe erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0">Image</span><div class="css-nwd8t8" data-testid="lazy-image"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="height:485.26666666666677px"></div></div></div><figcaption class="css-13ytnnu ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">John Pastor-Mendoza</span><span class="css-14fe1uy e1z0qqy90"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Denver District Attorney</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The women he targeted appeared intoxicated and were unaware that, though Mr. Pastor-Mendoza was a driver for Lyft, he was not the correct driver assigned to pick them up, the authorities said.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Lyft said that there were no records of these rides and that Mr. Pastor-Mendoza was likely making the trips off the books, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/21/denver-rideshare-driver-arrested-rape/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">The Washington Post</a> reported. Lyft did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">According to John Walsh, the Denver district attorney, Mr. Pastor-Mendoza would either sexually assault the women once they got into his car or take them to another location and assault them there.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“Pastor-Mendoza victimized 12 women in a calculated, cruel and contemptible series of crimes over four years,” Mr. Walsh said in a news release. He called the sentence, by Judge Karen Brody of the Denver District Court, “entirely appropriate.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“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,” Mr. Walsh added.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-3"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-2"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Pastor-Mendoza was convicted of kidnapping the 12 women, sexually assaulting two of them, attempting to sexually assault seven of them and robbery. Mr. Pastor-Mendoza maintained his innocence at the sentencing on Friday<strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">, </strong>according to a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">When Mr. Pastor-Mendoza was charged in October 2022, the Denver police announced that DNA evidence from at least three of the victims was a match for Mr. Pastor-Mendoza.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Rachel Perry, one of the women assaulted by Mr. Pastor-Mendoza, said that her fight-or-flight response kicked in when she realized he was not driving her to her intended destination in March 2019, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.ubersexualassaultlawyer.com/we-all-survived-the-same-nightmare-survivors-of-uber-driver-john-pastor-mendoza-react-to-his-conviction-for-kidnapping-and-assault%EF%BF%BC/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">according to a November news release</a>.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“We are strong, we fought and we fought hard,” <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-yXRNR_1eQ&amp;t=71s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">Ms. Perry told reporters alongside seven other victims at the courthouse on Friday</a>, the television station KUSA reported. “I survived a monster. We all did. And today, I feel like we got justice.”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="RelatedLinksBlock-5"><div data-testid="lazy-loader"></div></div>