Registered Sex Offender and Mexican National Sentenced to 24 Months Imprisonment for Assault of Federal Law Enforcement Officers

Spokane, Washington - First Assistant United States Attorney Pete Serrano announced that on April 16, 2026, District Court Judge United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke, sentenced Victor Lara-Lopez, age 42, of Pasco, Washington, Washington, to 24 months of imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release for assaulting two federal law enforcement officers.

According to court documents and information revealed during the sentencing hearing, in 2022, Lara-Lopez was convicted in the Superior Court of Washington- County of Benton, of molesting a 12 year old child. Lara-Lopez was sentenced to a prison term above the standard range because he held a position of trust over the child at the time of the offense. At the time of this sexual abuse, Lara-Lopez, a citizen of Mexico, was unlawfully residing in the United States. Lara-Lopez served his prison term in the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) and was released back into the community, despite his lack of status and sex offense conviction.

In June of 2025, local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers identified Lara-Lopez as a person residing unlawfully in Pasco, Washington, and sought to arrest him on an administrative warrant. In the early morning hours of June 13, 2025, two ICE officers identified Lara-Lopez in a vehicle near his Pasco residence. The officers, wearing clearly marked law enforcement gear and identifying themselves as law enforcement, approached Lara-Lopez in his vehicle and attempted to execute the warrant and arrest Lara-Lopez. Lara-Lopez refused to turn off his vehicle, provide his name, or exit his vehicle. Both officers stepped on the running board of the vehicle in an attempt to arrest Lara-Lopez. Lara-Lopez then began to drive the vehicle, initially reversing, then driving forward onto the sidewalk, hitting an ICE vehicle with such force that the front bumper was pulled off. Both officers were forced to jump off of the vehicle's running board to avoid being crushed between Lara-Lopez's vehicle and an ICE vehicle. Both officers sustained injuries as a result of Lara-Lopez's conduct. Lara-Lopez fled the scene.

The United States Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation sought and obtained a federal complaint and arrest warrant for Lara-Lopez for two counts of Assault on a Federal Law Enforcement Officer. Lara-Lopez remained whereabouts unknown for a full month, despite efforts by the United States Marshalls Service (USMS), Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI to locate him.

Lara-Lopez was apprehended in his vehicle on July 15, 2025. Lara-Lopez initially refused to exit the vehicle. Two other individuals were located in the vehicle with Lara-Lopez, including a minor child. Lara-Lopez was prohibited from contact with minor children due to his supervision conditions for the prior sex offense conviction. Officers also located fraudulent identification for Lara-Lopez after he was placed into law enforcement custody. Lara-Lopez pled guilty to assaulting both ICE officers on December 2, 2025.

During the sentencing hearing, Judge Dimke noted Lara-Lopez's history of failing to comply with law enforcement. She advised that Lara Lopez's refusal to comply with the lawful directives of federal law enforcement officers, and specifically federal immigration officers, put the community, the officers and Lara-Lopez at great risk.

"Lara-Lopez sexually abused a vulnerable, local child. He was permitted to return to our community despite this conviction and his illegal presence in the United States. The ICE officers in this case sought to protect this community by lawfully removing Lara-Lopez from it. This case highlights the importance of ICE's work in our community. Here, ICE was removing a child sex offender who is not here lawfully from our community - I'd like to thank the ICE officers involved. My office will aggressively continue to pursue people, like Lara-Lopez, who are unlawfully present, who seek to harm members of our community, or who assault federal law enforcement officers who are doing their jobs," said First Assistant United States Attorney Serrano.

"Law enforcement officers put themselves in harm's way every day to apprehend dangerous criminals and protect the American people," said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. "Mr. Lara-Lopez's reckless behavior not only injured two federal agents but was particularly egregious in light of his prior conduct exploiting a child from a position of trust. The FBI is committed to holding those who assault federal agents, like Mr. Lara-Lopez, accountable for their actions."

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Laurel Holland.