Lyft driver convicted of sex with NJ teen rider is out of prison after losing desperate appeal

🔴 A Lyft driver convicted of sexually assaulting a teen rider has been released.

🔴 Court records detailed encounters after Julio Mejia met her during a Lyft ride.

🔴 Mejia claimed that prosecutors failed to prove the victim’s age.

A Lyft driver, who had an intimate relationship with a 15-year-old girl he met on the job, is now out on parole after trying to contest her age in court.

In 2023, a Passaic County jury convicted 45-year-old Julio Mejia of second-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, third-degree child endangerment, and second-degree child luring. He was sentenced to a maximum of seven years in state prison.

Recently, on Dec. 24, 2025, he was released on parole. His maximum sentence would have kept him behind bars through  Sept. 10, 2028.

Get our free mobile app

Then, last Thursday, the former Lyft driver from Wharton lost a desperate appeal to have his conviction thrown out. He argued that prosecutors did not provide enough evidence at trial to prove that the victim was 15 years old.

A private attorney for Mejia did not respond to a request for comment from New Jersey 101.5.

Court details relationship that began during a Lyft ride

Passaic County prosecutors said that Mejia was a Lyft driver who picked up the teen girl and her friend from a Barnes & Noble in Woodland Park on Aug. 30, 2019. Mejia dropped the friend off first and then took the victim home.

The 15-year-old began talking with Mejia after the friend was dropped off. During the ride home, she told him that she was a sophomore in high school and then asked for his phone number. Mejia, who at the time was 39 years old, and the girl had sex before she left his car, according to court documents.

Text messages showed that Mejia and the girl texted between Aug. 31 and Sept. 24, 2019. The girl said that on Sept. 21, the Lyft driver took her to a juice bar and then they had sex in two separate parking lots. In court, the victim testified that she ended the relationship because she felt "uncomfortable."

Two months later, the 15-year-old told girl told her therapist at school about the illicit encounters. The therapist then called the police and filled them in.

READ MORE: Villanova football player from NJ charged with rape

Appeals court rejects claim that victim’s age was unproven

Mejia tried to have his conviction overturned. On Nov. 18, 2025, his attorney filed an appeal with a bizarre legal argument.

"The state failed to present sufficient evidence of the victim's age," Mejia's defense argued. In other words, he claimed that prosecutors did not prove at trial that the girl was only 15 years old.

The appellate judges handily waived away his claim and said that Mejia's defense never raised this issue at trial. According to their decision, the victim testified at trial and gave her date of birth. The detective who investigated the case also testified with the same evidence.

"We, therefore, reject defendant's argument because it is not supported by any law and is inconsistent with well-established law," the judges said.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom