Iowa taxpayers have been billed more than $12,000 thus far to provide a full-time court translator to illegal alien Cristhian Bahena Rivera, accused of murdering 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts in Brooklyn, Iowa last year.

In August 2018, Bahena Rivera, a 25-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, was charged with Tibbetts’ murder after police said he admitted to confronting and chasing down the young woman.

After a nationwide search, Tibbetts’ body was found in a cornfield in Poweshiek County, Iowa. The illegal alien lived in a region of Iowa that was surrounded by sanctuary cities, as Breitbart News noted, and worked on a dairy farm using a stolen ID and Social Security card after allegedly crossing the U.S.-Mexico border as a child.

Court records obtained by local media reveal that a translator for Bahena Rivera — from Missouri — has cost taxpayers in Iowa about $12,485 thus far.

This is the latest perk Bahena Rivera has enjoyed thus far while preparing for the murder trial against him, which is supposed to begin in November. This year, the illegal alien’s attorneys successfully got the trial date moved back, attempted to have his alleged murder confession thrown out, were rewarded with more than $3,000 in taxpayer funds to obtain an expert witness, and successfully got his trial moved to a less white, more Hispanic-populated region of the state.

Mollie Tibbetts Murder Trial Moved to More Hispanic-Populated Iowa Countyhttps://t.co/KAQJfm0qgo — John Binder 👽 (@JxhnBinder) March 28, 2019

According to prosecutors, Bahena Rivera was the last person who saw Tibbetts jogging on the evening of July 18 in Brooklyn, Iowa, security camera footage reveals. That is the night Tibbetts went missing.

The illegal alien told police that Tibbetts was jogging when he saw her, according to prosecutors. That is when he said he approached Tibbetts and started talking to her. After Tibbetts told Bahena Rivera that she would call the police if he did not stop following her, the illegal alien allegedly chased her and says he “blacked out” after this.

Police believe Bahena Rivera stabbed Tibbetts to death, then drove to a cornfield where prosecutors say he placed corn stalks over her to hide her body. The illegal alien has been held on a $5 million bond.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.