Box Elder County Commission hopeful is charged in human trafficking case

BRIGHAM CITY — A Tremonton rancher who is running for a Box Elder County Commission seat is facing a felony charge of human trafficking, accusing him of disturbing mistreatment of one of his workers, a Mexican national.

Dusty “Hootie” Roche, 41, is charged with aggravated human trafficking, a first-degree felony, in connection with the alleged treatment in 2019 of a male worker employed at his family’s Box Elder County ranch. The worker, identified in court papers as A.S., traveled to Utah to work for Roche Ranches Inc. under an H-2A visa, which allows U.S. employers to bring in foreign nationals to fill temporary agriculture jobs.

Among many other things, the charging documents say Roche Ranches treated A.S. abusively, housed him in a dirty, dilapidated mobile home/trailer without running water and didn’t provide him with timely deliveries of food. Roche’s brother Justin Roche and his father Jeffrey Roche — all three are principals in the ranching operation — also each face an identical human trafficking charge.

“As a result of the poor conditions, A.S. was regularly working very long hours while cold, wet and undernourished with little energy. A.S. reported most work days began at 5 a.m. and continued until 8 p.m., often without a lunch break,” read the charges filed last year by the Utah Attorney General’s Office in 1st District Court.

Read the full story and more from Collin Leonard and Tim Vandenack on ksl.com.