USA v. Montes Lizardi

UN ITED STATE S D ISTR ICT C O U RT
SOU TH ER N D ISTR ICT O F FLO R IDA
CASE NO. 25-m i-04284-M ORENO/M FE
U NITED STATES O F A M ERIC A
V.
DORIS M ONTES LIZARDI,
Defendant.
/
O RD ER O F PR ETIU A L DETEN TIO N
The defendantischarged by complaintwith violating 18U.S.C.j2243 thatmakesitafederal
crimeto knowingly engage in a sexualactwith persons who havenotagained the age of 16 years.The
D efendantDorisM ontes Lizardi,a citizen ofM exico,w as apassengerin the RoyalCaribbean W onderof( .
theSeascruise ship.Thevictim ,ayoung boy aged 13,and his l6-year-old brotherprovided statem ents
regarding various sex actswith the Defendantin the Defendant's cabin.The Defendantalso provided a
statem ent consistent w ith the boys'statem ents but believed the sex acts w ere consensllal.The m inor
victim ,age 13,carmotlegally consenttothesex actsdescribed in the complaint.
Afterconsideringthefactorssetfo1	4h in 18U.S.	C.j3142(g)andtheinformationpresentedatthe
hearing held onDecember2,2025,theCoul'tconcludesthattheDefendantmustbedetained pending trial
becausethe Governm enthasproven by apreponderance ofthe evidencethatno conditionsorcom bination
ofconditions ofrelease w illreasonably assure the D efendantw illnotflee.
ln addition to any findingsm ade on the record atthehearing,the reasonsfor detention include the
following:(1)theweightofevidence againsttheDefendantisstrong'	,(2)the Defendantissubjectto
lengthyperiodofincarcerationifconvicted;(3)theDefendanthassignificantfamilyorothertiesoutside
theUnitedStates;and(4)theconditionsimposedbytheM agistrateJudgeofhomedetentionintheCentral
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Districtof California in an apartmentcomplex thatm ay include m inors are insufficientto protectthe
public.
REA SO N S FO R DET EN TIO N
Aherconsideringthefactsofthiscaseandthçfactorssetfol'th in 18U.S.C.j3142(g),thisCoul-t
concludes that the Government showed by a preponderançe of the evidence that no condition or
combination ofconditionswillreasonably assuretheappearanceoftheDefendant,asrequired.In support
ofthis conclusion,the Courtnotes the follow ing reasonsfordetention:
First,the Courtfindstheoffenseconduct,ascontainedintheComplaint,isseriousand nottrifling
in nature. M oreover,based upon theComplaintfiled in thism atter,and the Defendant'sown statem ents
to 1aw enforcem entand crpise ship ofticials,the Courtfindsthatthe strength ofthe Governm ept'jcase
ggainst M ontes Lizardiis very strong. The M inor Victim and his brother gave com pelling,reliable
statementsofthesexualactivity in which they engaged with M ontesLizardi,and thç Defepdanthersel	.f
adm ittedthatshehad engagedin thechargedsexualactivity with theM inop'Victim ,age 13andhisbrother
age 16,conductshe declared she thoughtw as Stnorm al.''
M oreover,the Cokll-tful-therfindsthatthe threatofsignificantincarcel-ation in thism atterfurther
w eighs against releasing the D efendant pending trial. The Defendant is facing an estim ated advisory
guideline range of at least approxim ately eightyears in prison.M oreover,the Defendant is facing a
m aximum penalty ofatleast15years'im prisonm enton each ofCounts1and 3 oftheComplaint,andtwo
years'ilnprisonm enton each ofCotmts2and4 oftheCom plaint,foratotalm aximum penaltyof34years'
im prisonment.W hiletheCoul'tnotes,and thepm-tiesagreed,thatM ontesLizardidoesnotappeartohave
prior crim inalconvictions or im prisonm ent,the Coul-tfinds thatthe substantialterm ofincarceration the
Defendantfacesnow issignificantforsomeonewhohasneverhadcontactwiththecriminaljusticesystem
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brfore.Therefore,the Courtfindsthethreatofincarceration here isalso arisk factorthatweighsin favor
ofpretrialdetention.
Finally,theCourtfindsthattheDefendant'slack oftiestothe Southem D istrictofFlorida,aswell
assignificantpersonaland falnilialties outside oftheUnited States,furtherm ilitate in favorofdenying
pretl	jalreleaseinthismatter.TheDefendantisaM exicancitizenwhoresidesinGuadalajara,Mexi	,	coand
worksasamakeupartistin GuadalajaraMexico.TheDefendantdoesnothavelegalstatusorcitizenship
in the U nited States and w as only presentbrietly in the Southern D istrictofFlorida to take the cruise on
the (çW onderofthe Seas,''with a travelcompanion,who paid forthe cruise,isalso a citizen ofM exico,
and has since returned to M exico. There exists a probability the M exican govelmm entwould refuse to
extradite thç Defendant. The extradition treaty between M exico and the United States has. a dual
crim inality requirement'	,thatis,M exico willonly extraditeitsnationalsifithascolnparablecrim esto the
onesbeing soughtby $heUnitedStatesforextradition.In M exico,theage ofconsentvariesby statefrom
12 to 18yearsofage.Therefore,ifM ontesLizardiwereto flee to a M exican statewhoseageofconsent
w as 12,13,oreven 14,the M exican govermnentcould refuse to extradite herbecause her actions in this
m atterw ould notconstitute a crim e in thatstate. The Coul-tfinds thislack oftiesin the Southern D istrict
ofFlorida weighsin favorofpretrialdetention.
The Defendant,however,argues thatthe M agistrate Court's bond conditions would ensure she
w ould appear before this Coul-t. She presented that her sister w ho lives in the Central D istrict of
California would be l'esponsible forher,and the fam ilial suppol't she has in the CentralDistrict of
California (where hersistersand step-fathera11live),coupled with the many conditions ofthe bond
imposedby theM agistrateCourt,shouldgivethisCou14com fol-tthatsheholdsnorisk ofnon-appearance.
The Courtdisagrees. To begin,m any ofthe bond conditions im posed by the M agistrate Coul't
such as the firearm possession l'estriction;specialized sex offender evaluation and treatm ent'	,restriction
on contactwith certain m inors;restliction on data encryption and socialm edia accounts,am ongstothers
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do notaddresstherisk ofnon-appearance.Additionally,afactorthisCourtm ustconsiderisnotwhether
theDefendanthastiesto any com munity.Rather,the Coul-tmustconsiderwhethertheDefendanthastiqs
to this community;thatis,to the Southern DistrictofFlorida.TheDefendanthasno tiesto thisDistrict,. '
andthedefendant'sreleaseto the CentralDistrictofCaliforniaisneitherwithin nornearthisDistrictand,, . '
mpre importantly,iscloserto herhomecountry ofM exico tllan the Southçrn DistrictofFlorida giving	'. . ' , . . . ' '
theDefendanttheneededproximitytoM exicotofleethere.
M oreover,the rem aining conditionsimposed including hom e confinem ent,the sun'enderofa
M exican passpol-t,andresidencew ith hersister do notgivethe Cotlrtany assurancesthatM ontesLizardi
has a 1ow risk ofnon-appearance. W hileatwork,neitherthe sisternorthe stepfatherwouid be able to
supervise or monitorthe Defendantfrom approximately atleast 9:00 a.m .to 3:30/4:30 p.m .,M onday
through Friday.Thatprovidesthe Defendantwith approxiluately six to seven hoursin which toleave her
sister's residence before United States Probation orotherpersonsw ere to note and reportherabsepce
and flee to M exico,orelsewhere outside ofthe CentralD istrictofCaliforni/.Further,the sister'shom e is
in an apartm entcomplex thatm ay hold young boys and releasing the Defendantposesa dangerto that
comlnunity.
In shol't, the Court finds that the evidence presented in this case show s the case against the
D efendantis too strong,and the Defendant's risk of flight is too high.Therefore,the Court finds by a
preponderance ofthe evidencethere areno conditions,orcombination ofconditions,thatwillensurethe
appearanceofthe Defendant,Therefore,
IT IS H E REBY O R DER ED thatthe personalsurety bond set by the M agislrate Judge in this
m atterisR EV O K ED and the D efendantshallbe detained pending trialin thism atter'	,
IT IS FU RTH ER O R D ERED that the D efendant is rem anded to the custody of the A ttorney
G eneral or to the A ttorney G eneral's designated representative for confinem ent pending trial in a
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correctionsfacility separate,to theextentpracticable,from personsawaitingorselwingsentencesorbeing
held in custody pending appeal;and
IT IS FURTHER O RDERED thatupon an orderofa coul'toftheUnited Statesoron requestof
anattorney fortheGovernm ent,theperson in chargeofthecon-ectionsfacility mustdelivertheDefendant
to a United States M arshalforthe purpose ofan appearance in colm ection w ith a coul'tproceeding.
DONE AND ORDERED in Open Cou14 atM ianni,Florida,this228day ofDecem ber2025 and
YdayofDecember2025.	signed in cham berson this
BertilaL.Fernandez,AUSA
M aeA nn R.D unker,AFPD
H O N O B FE ER IC O A M O R EN O
SENIO NITED STATES DISTR ICT JU D GE
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