A second man has been charged in connection with a violent 2025 home invasion and sexual assault in West Valley City, in which two men forced their way into a woman's apartment at gunpoint, robbed her, and sexually assaulted her while her young daughter was in another room. Charging documents filed Tuesday identify the newly charged suspect as 32-year-old Pedro Isaac Bonilla Urbina, who joins 30-year-old Efrain Jose Gregorio Monroy-Lara as a co-defendant in the case.
According to charging documents cited by KSL.com, the woman reported that two men forced their way into her West Valley City apartment on March 8, 2025, after she opened the door believing it was her roommate. Monroy-Lara pointed a gun at the woman's head, and prosecutors say the two men sexually assaulted her while holding her at gunpoint, all while her young daughter remained in another room. The defendants allegedly threatened to kill the woman if she looked at them or if she failed to hand over her money and cards, and the woman reportedly begged for her life and pleaded with the men not to hurt her daughter.
Monroy-Lara ordered the woman to crouch against the wall with her hands down and her eyes averted, according to the charging documents. The two men are accused of stealing two necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, along with the woman's bank cards, which were later used at gas stations in Utah, Nevada, and California. Prosecutors reportedly described the offenses as something out of the movies, underscoring the severity of the allegations laid out in court filings.
How Investigators Say They Identified the Suspects
Monroy-Lara was first identified as a suspect after a national DNA database matched crime-scene evidence to him, KSL.com reports. Investigators say the woman's stolen credit cards were used at gas stations in Utah, Nevada, and California, according to a separate account from the same outlet. Monroy-Lara was being held by ICE for investigation.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill filed 11 felony charges against Monroy-Lara in May 2025, including child kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated sexual assault, and requested he be held without bail given what the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office called the severe violent nature of the attack. According to the charging documents, Monroy-Lara now faces aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, witness tampering, two counts of unlawful possession of a bank card, and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child. Bonilla Urbina, charged in 3rd District Court, faces aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, two counts of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault, and unlawful use of a financial card.
Aggravated robbery, aggravated sexual assault, and aggravated burglary are all classified as first-degree felonies, while aggravated assault is a third-degree felony and unlawful use of a financial card is a class B misdemeanor, per the charging documents. Court records also indicate that both defendants identified themselves as members of “Mafia TDA,” which the documents say stands for Tren de Aragua, and that both men are originally from Venezuela. Investigators believe the two men fled to California after the attack, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is currently holding both men for investigation, according to KSL.com's report. The West Valley City charges remain distinct from other matters. Monroy-Lara has a court hearing scheduled for September 14.
Gang Activity Utah Officials Have Been Tracking Since 2024
The identification of “Mafia TDA” in charging documents lands amid a broader pattern state officials have been monitoring for more than two years. Chief of Investigations Tanner Jensen of the Utah Department of Public Safety said in January that state law enforcement first detected Tren de Aragua activity in Utah around February 2024, tracking dozens of members active primarily in Salt Lake and Utah counties, according to KSL.com. Utah reporting has documented criminal incidents involving suspected members of the gang, including home invasions, while the gang's presence in Utah was not extensive.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox described Tren de Aragua as a growing security threat to the state in late 2024. Federal agencies have also been active in the region: the Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division and Immigration and Customs Enforcement carried out joint operations in the Salt Lake City metro area in February 2025 that led to 13 arrests of undocumented immigrants, including four confirmed Tren de Aragua members, according to KUTV 2News. Nationally, federal enforcement efforts have also targeted alleged Tren de Aragua members.
What Conviction Would Mean Under Utah Law
The charges both men face carry substantial mandatory penalties if they result in conviction. Under Utah Code § 76-5-405, a conviction for aggravated sexual assault can carry minimum prison terms of six, 10, or 15 years, depending on the circumstances. Utah law also restricts the suspension of prison sentences and the granting of probation for certain serious violent felonies, including kidnapping-related offenses.
The charges against both Bonilla Urbina and Monroy-Lara remain allegations at this stage of the proceedings, and neither man has been convicted. Hoodline has also followed a West Valley City shoe robbery case that drew similar gang-related charges earlier this month.
