The U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer accused of sexually assaulting women in Chicago’s suburbs is a “flawed” and “weak” man who disgraced his family and country — but he is not guilty of robbing and raping his alleged victims, his lawyer argued Wednesday.Rather, CBP officer Lui s Uribe turned out to be “the perfect mark” for members of a prostitution ring overseen by a boss in China, the defense attorney insisted.“There’s a mountain of evidence that [Uribe’s] a flawed human,” defense attorney Michael Clancy said. “But there’s no evidence of what he’s charged with.” Related O’Hare-based Border Protection officer sexually abused, robbed women at gunpoint, indictment claims The commentary amounted to the most full-throated defense of Uribe since a grand jury last year accused the immigration officer of sexually assaulting four women in Schaumburg and Naperville in 2022. It came during opening statements in Uribe’s trial, which kicked off Wednesday in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso.Uribe, 45, has been held in federal custody ever since his Dec. 9, 2025, arrest.Jurors also heard from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Shih. The prosecutor showed them a photo of the badge Uribe once carried, and he told the panel it “looks like a bald eagle sitting on top of a shield — a gold shield.”“We are here because the defendant was not only derelict in his duty — he violated it,” Shih said. “Actually, he perverted it. He went from investigating crimes to committing them.”Uribe is charged with 10 counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Though his indictment became public near the end of last year’s Operation Midway Blitz deportation campaign, it is not related to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement effort.Rather, Uribe allegedly committed six attacks between February and October 2022, while being primarily assigned to O’Hare Airport. Shih explained to jurors how, during one attack, Uribe “pushed his way” into a hotel room, “pulled out his badge with an eagle on it, and he pulled out a black handgun.”The prosecutor described how Uribe raped the women, telling jurors one “was terrified and she was disgusted,” and another was afraid Uribe would kill her. Related CBP agent says feds’ ‘Broadview Six’ misconduct tainted his sexual assault case Uribe became “such a problem in the Chinese community,” Shih told jurors, that an effort was made to obtain a photograph of Uribe to circulate. A photo was eventually taken during a meeting at the Royal Buffet in Hoffman Estates.Prosecutors have said the photo was taken during a meeting Uribe had with a sex worker, and that Uribe was offered free sex during the meeting to end the attacks.However, Clancy told jurors it was “insulting” to say Uribe’s alleged victims are “part of the Chinese community.” Rather, he said they “are part of a criminal organization that runs prostitution and other crimes.”The defense attorney said that, around 2020 and 2021, Uribe visited a prostitute who turned out to be the “on-the-ground Chicago boss of a prostitution ring that is [run] by another boss, located in China.”Clancy said Uribe made the “fatal mistake” of telling that woman he worked for Homeland Security.“They are hustlers,” Clancy said of the alleged victims. “They are prostitutes. They are liars.” ...read more read less