WALLER, Texas – For the first time, the worker who was arrested alongside licensed midwife Maria Rojas in March in a historic case appeared before a judge in Waller County District Court.
Jose Ley, 29, was indicted in September on charges of practicing medicine without a license and performing illegal abortion.
His attorneys Jose Ceja and Nicholas Hughes said they were hired by Ley’s family.
“What we know is that Mr. Ley is a decent, hardworking family man,” Ceja said. “He was completing a course to become a missionary. His life’s been turned upside down over this.”
According to the arrest affidavit, Ley had administered IV and iron injection to a woman as part of medication abortion treatment at Rojas’ Waller clinic.
“They politicize abortion, they politicized women’s rights, they politicize immigrants, but what we haven’t seen yet is evidence,” said Ceja.
Lesleigh Mortion, a prosecutor for the Attorney General’s Office, told Waller County Judge Gary Chaney on Wednesday that her office is working to hand over all evidence to Ley’s defense.
“We believe that Mr. Ley is not guilty of what he’s being accused of, and we just ask that everybody keep an open mind," said Ceja.
Ley told investigators he is a doctor in Cuba, although he is not licensed to practiced in Texas.
He also said that he received a three month training with the organization Doctors without Borders in the U.S.
A spokesperson for the organization sent us this statement back in March:
“We have no record of these individuals working or training under a Doctors Without Borders contract in the United States. Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is present in over 70 countries and comprised of separate and independent offices and entities around the world. We are checking with those other offices to see if they have any more information.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international organization that provides medical care to people affected by conflict, disease outbreaks, disasters, and social exclusion. We do not currently run programs in the US."
Ceja said Ley is a “decent, hardworking family man” who was working to become a missionary before his arrest.
Ley’s next court date is set for February 4.