Two Ohio brothers – including an Air Force veteran turned influencer – who claimed to be “drugged” during a yacht party in the United Arab Emirates have been sentenced to prison for consuming alcohol, a law strictly enforced in the Middle Eastern country.
Joseph and Joshua Lopez will be jailed for a month for drinking alcohol they received during a “tourist visit to the Emirates” in June, according to Detained in Dubai, an organization dedicated to helping people facing legal problems in the UAE.
The two brothers were enjoying themselves on the night of June 2 when they were taken to two separate “afterparties” and forced to pay a large bill before a woman handed them drinks they claimed had been thrown away.
“He was set on fire by locals after being asked to a yacht party by locals,” Detained in Dubai CEO Radha Stirling wrote on her website.
Joseph Lopez, who is currently “Mr. Louisiana” in the Mister USA competition, has traveled to the UAE with his brother on May 25 hoping to produce luxury content in the City of Gold.
During their trip, the sisters stayed at the Bla Bla nightclub before being met by an Uber driver who invited them to an “afterparty” at a nearby hotel.
They were given plates of food and drinks they didn’t ask for, and after 20 minutes the party was over – and the sisters were handed a huge bill to pay.
“Clearly he was a target for scammers who wanted to rob him,” Stirling wrote.
The two brothers decided to call it a night when they were reportedly approached by someone inviting them to a yacht party.
Air Force veteran Joseph Lopez — who left the military less than a year ago — explained that he was “done spending the night,” but the man insisted he was “America’s guest” and wasn’t worried about spending money.
On the boat, the brothers were given more drinks by the staff, who were then charged $2,722, before another woman served them food.
“This woman brought me a drink, and after she brought me this drink, I don’t remember anything,” Joseph Lopez previously told Fox 19 Now.
“He was given one drink on the yacht, and the next thing he remembers was being picked up by a police officer in an unmarked vehicle,” Stirling said.
Both Lopez and Stirling claimed that the brothers were abducted on foreign soil, but were taken to the Al Barsha police station, where they remained from June 3 to June 12.
“Police did not test the blood for drugs or sedatives despite the boy’s request,” Stirling wrote.
Police accused the brothers of assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, damaging a patrol vehicle and consuming alcohol.
They have been in touch but have been placed under a travel ban preventing them from returning to the US.
The brothers will fight charges of destroying government property and assaulting officials in court on August 20, according to Stirling’s Detained in Dubai post.
Lawyers for the brothers are hoping for long sentences for the charges with the organization calling the prison “some of the most notorious prisons in the world”.
Stirling blasts the UAE for its treatment of tourists.
“The government portrays that Dubai is a safe and crime-free destination for tourists, but in reality, we see tourists being targeted. Whether it’s financial predators who want to scam visitors like Joseph and Joshua or attack women like Selina Waterman Smith, who was kidnapped and raped,” he said. write.
“The government doesn’t seem to acknowledge crime in the statistics they give to the media or tourists. It’s a myth that Dubai is crime-free. They just don’t acknowledge that it’s bad for business.
Stirling has asked Ohio politicians – including Republican Rep. Mike Carey, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat, and JD Vance, Republican vice presidential candidate, for diplomatic intervention to get the brothers home.
“Without diplomatic intervention, these boys could have faced years in prison for infamous torture and human rights abuses,” he wrote.
“Joseph Lopez is an Air Force veteran who helps people in difficult situations through mental health advocacy. He and his brother deserve every effort from the US government to bring them home.
The brothers are staying at an Airbnb while they await their fate.
