Box Elder County ranch operator enters plea in abeyance in human trafficking case
by Tim Vandenack ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- Justin Roche pleaded guilty to benefiting from human trafficking in connection with the treatment of an immigrant worker at the Box Elder County ranch he helps run.
- The charge may be ultimately be dismissed as part of a plea in abeyance.
- His brother and father still face aggravated human trafficking charges as their cases wind through court.
BRIGHAM CITY — One of three men charged with human trafficking in connection with the treatment of an immigrant employee at the Box Elder County ranch they run has pleaded guilty in the matter and must complete community service.
Justin Jeffrey Roche, 47, pleaded guilty to a count of benefiting from human trafficking labor, a third-degree felony, as part of a plea in abeyance, and 1st District Judge Brandon Maynard accepted the plea on Sept. 21. If Roche complies with the varied conditions of his plea, including completion of 50 hours of community service and "thinking errors" or moral reconation therapy, the case will be dismissed within one or two years.
Roche entered his plea as part of a deal with the Box Elder County Attorney's Office, which reduced the charge he faces from aggravated human trafficking, a first-degree felony. Roche's brother, Dusty Chris Roche, 44, and the father of the two men, Jeffrey Roche, 69, each face a single count of aggravated human trafficking in the matter. Their cases continue to wind their way through court.
According to online court records, a four-day jury trial is scheduled for next March in Dusty Roche's case. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for Feb. 22. Jeffrey Roche's case had been scheduled to go to trial in August, but the dates came and went, and it too continues to wind its way through court.
The three Roches run Roche Ranches in Tremonton. The cases against them stem from the alleged mistreatment of an immigrant brought to the United States under an H-2A visa, meant for temporary agricultural workers, to work for the operation as a sheep herder. Charges in the three cases were originally filed in 2023, and the treatment of the ranch worker in question dates back to 2019.
Among many other things, the original charging documents say Roche Ranches treated the man abusively, housed him in a dirty, dilapidated mobile home without running water, and didn't provide him with timely deliveries of food. Prosecutors also described the Roche Ranches operators as dismissive of the man's complaints after he was bucked from a horse and stepped on several times while working, suffering a fractured orbital socket, among other things.
As part of his plea deal, Justin Roche admitted that he "benefited from (his) participation in human trafficking" between April and October of 2019. He must stay away from the victim per a protective order in the case.
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