Oregon man accused of holding woman in basement cell appeared on âJudge Judyâ

Five years before he allegedly held a sex worker captive in a cinder block cell, Negasi Zuberi appeared on an episode of “Judge Judy” to face off against the mother of his children.

Zuberi used one of his many aliases, Justin Hythe, when he appeared on the long-running legal show back in 2018. He was joined by Alycia Westfall, who he alleged threw a glass bottle at him and then ruined several of his suits with bleach. She in turn countersued for a “smashed” phone and what she described as a “false restraining order” he obtained against her.

At the time of filming, the couple were living separately, but still shared custody of their children. Zuberi told the judge that Westfall showed up at his home one night, accused him of being drunk and then demanded he return their kids to her.

Cell phone video of the altercation shows the pair arguing before Westfall smacks the phone out of Zuberi’s hand. It also captured the moment Zuberi flees outside, where Westfall then hurls a bottle at him.

“Your counterclaim is dismissed,” Judge Judy told Westfall at the episode’s end, ruling in Zuberi’s favor. “You destroyed his suits and his computer. [Pay] the Plaintiff in the amount of $2,500. We’re finished.”

The five year-old episode, from the show’s second season, has recently been making the rounds on social media after Zuberi was arrested on July 16. Westfall and at least one of their children were with him in the Walmart parking lot where he when taken into custody by authorities in Reno, Nev.

A day earlier, Zuberi traveled roughly 450 miles from his Oregon home to Seattle, where he picked up a sex worker and lied about being an undercover police officer, according to the FBI. The woman later told investigators that Zuberi threatened her with a Taser while he cuffed her hands and legs in the backseat, and then made the long drive back to his rental home in Klamath Falls.

There, he forced the woman into a soundproof cell inside the residence’s garage, the FBI said. She remained trapped for hours before she managed to bust the door down and escape. She has also claimed Zuberi sexually assaulted her while she was restrained.

On Wednesday, Zuberi was charged with interstate kidnapping and transporting someone across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. The first charge is punishable by life in federal prison and the second by up to 10 years.

Authorities noted Zuberi has lived in 10 states over the past decade and police are searching for information about possible additional victims from California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Alabama and Nevada.

There may be Alabama victims linked to the case, the FBI has said.