Lang
8/17/19
An Iowa City Uber driver accused of sexually assaulting one of his passengers has been given a deferred sentence.
Online records show 39-year-old Ali Alsheik of Westwinds Drive agreed to plead guilty to a charge of Assault With Intent to Commit Sexual Abuse in June. The plea deal was accepted last week, and Alsheik was given a deferred sentence with two years of probation. He must also register as a sex offender and enter a sex offender program.
Arrest records state Alsheik had been called to pick a woman up in downtown Iowa City early the morning of October 7th, 2017 to take her home to Grant Street, an approximately eight-minute trip. But police say Uber records show Alsheik did not drive a direct route to the woman’s requested location, instead driving her around for 29 minutes.
In that time, police say he sexually assaulted the woman, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. She went to the hospital for an examination within hours of the incident and police later took DNA samples from Alsheik, saying they found mixed DNA from him and the victim in the car, on Alsheik and in the victim’s sexual assault kit.
Alsheik allegedly told police there was no sexual contact between the two but that he had to fight off her sexual advances toward him, saying he only drove her home.
Alsheik was initially charged with 3rd Degree Sexual Abuse, a class C felony carrying a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
