The prosecution of two men who allegedly plied a would-be bartender with alcohol until she was knee-walking drunk and then forced her to perform oral sex moved ahead Friday in 6th Judicial District court in Durango.
The men were arrested on suspicion of sexual assault. They were each jailed on a $250,000 bail.
In hearings before Judge William Herringer, a trial-setting date was scheduled Jan. 10 for Joseph Robert Toledo, who is accused of being an accomplice, and a status conference for Jeffery Rey Gallegos was to continue at 10 a.m. March 14.
According to an arrest affidavit, the men met the 22-year-old woman at Orio’s Roadhouse about 1 a.m. April 23. Gallegos, then 45, said he could land her a job as bartender at the American Legion Hall but added that she had to prove she could make drinks.
When the three arrived at the hall, they made many drinks; the affidavit said video footage shows the woman became so intoxicated that she was holding onto the bar. The footage shows Gallegos put his arms around her and began to fondle her.
Toledo, then 25, was videotaped putting Scotch tape on a surveillance camera to obstruct the lens.
The affidavit said the two men are suspected of carrying the woman, who at one point had fallen to her knees, to the stage area where she performed oral sex on Gallegos until she blacked out.
At 8:30 a.m. following the incident, the woman’s blood-alcohol level tested at 0.15, nearly double the standard for a drunken-driving arrest.
daler@durangoherald.com
The story has been corrected since its original publication.
