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A Cuban who worked as an Uber driver in Miami-Dade was arrested in the city of Doral, accused of having kidnapped and sexually assaulted a passenger, two felony charges for which he could spend the rest of his life in prison, according to Florida laws.
Yusel Pérez Leyva, 42 years old, was arrested on June 18 after confessing to kidnapping and raping a passenger he had picked up in Miami Beach, according to court records cited this Monday by Local 10.
The woman told detectives from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office (MDSO) that she remembered leaving on June 3 and leaving a nightclub in Miami Beach in the early hours of June 4.
According to the police report, the victim woke up in pain in the emergency room of HCA Florida Palm Lakes in Hialeah, but she could not remember what had happened. “She believes she was drugged... as a result, she lost consciousness and only remembers leaving the local nightclub... She thinks she was raped,” stated an officer of the MDSO in the report.
Surveillance videos found by the police show Pérez Leyva carrying the unconscious woman to his apartment at 7220 NW 179th St., near Miami Lakes.
When questioned at the Special Victims Unit in Doral, the suspect confessed that he was working as an Uber driver when he picked up the woman, and admitted that he engaged in sexual relations with her while under the influence of alcohol.
After his arrest, Pérez Leyva was held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on June 19. The following day, he appeared before a judge, who denied bail, ordered his preventive detention, and prohibited him from approaching the victim.
Pérez Leyva faces two charges for first-degree felonies: kidnapping, punishable by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and sexual assault against a physically incapacitated or defenseless victim, which carries penalties of up to 30 years in prison, under Florida law.
In addition to the criminal charges, the accused has a migration hold order issued by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The Miami-Dade circuit judge Alberto Milian will preside over the case. The formal reading of charges is scheduled for the morning of July 9.
If found guilty of the charges against him, Pérez Leyva could spend the rest of his life in prison, followed by a potential deportation process once any other sentence is served.
The incident adds to previous cases of Cuban Uber drivers in the Miami metropolitan area accused of sexual offenses against passengers. In March 2025, Yaroslandys Elozegui Romero, 35 years old, was arrested for forcing a client to perform sexual acts on the side of the SR 826 highway. In October 2023, Yadir Alejandro Góngora was detained for pretending to be an Uber driver and sexually assaulting a tourist in Miami Beach; and in March of that same year, Wilder Ariel Sosa Olivero was arrested in Hialeah accused of kidnapping, physical assault, and indecent exposure to a passenger.
Until June 1st, Uber was facing over 3,500 lawsuits for sexual assault in federal litigation. Between 2017 and 2020, at least 9,805 individuals reported assaults committed by drivers on the platform.
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