Mother accused of selling baby
By Mike McPhee
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 02/27/2007 03:51:49 PM MST


Nicole Uribe, 23, a Mexican national living in Pueblo, is accused of selling her five-month-old baby boy for cash and a down payment on a car. (Pueblo Police Department)Pueblo police have recovered a 5-month-old baby that they say was sold by his mother for the down payment on a car.

Police said they received information on Monday that Nicole Uribe, 23, a Mexican national, sold her baby boy to Jose-Juan Lerma, 47, and his wife, Irene, 27, for an undisclosed amount of cash and the payment on the car. The transaction occurred within the city limits of Pueblo, police said.

"We received information from a third party about the sale of the baby," said Sgt. Brett Wilson of the Pueblo Police Department's Special Victims Unit. "Within hours, we were able to locate the baby."

"The mother had been attempting to buy the automobile from a third party and negotiated the down payment as part of the sale of her baby," he said.

The baby boy, who police say is healthy, has been placed in a foster home.

The mother, who gave birth to the boy in Pueblo, is in custody and will be charged with trafficking in children, a Class III felony, Wilson said.

Police said they are in contact with the couple and expect to arrest them this afternoon. They too will be charged with trafficking in children, Wilson said.

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