Utah Trucker Challenges Arrest In Sex Slave Case

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) --€” A Utah truck driver accused of keeping women as sex slaves in his semi-trailer as he drove across the country is challenging his arrest.

Defense attorney Vanessa Ramos argued Wednesday that Minnesota state troopers shouldn't have arrested Timothy Jay Vafeades last year for violating a protective order because it was no longer valid.

Vafeades was taken into custody at a weigh station after state truck inspectors found the 1999 order barring him from contacting a woman who was with him.

Ramos said the order only applied when the 19-year-old woman was a child.

Ramos also asked a judge to toss unspecified evidence in the case.

Prosecutors say the 54-year-old Vafeades lured two women to his truck and held them prisoner for months.

U.S. District Judge David Nuffer didn't immediately rule on the motion.

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