3 jailed on allegations of immigrant abuse in SW Houston
By DALE LEZON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Sept. 10, 2009, 10:28AM

A Houston man nicknamed “El Diablo“ and two others have been accused of holding illegal immigrants hostage in a southwest Houston home unless their families paid thousands of dollars for their release.

The victims claim they were beaten, forced to undress and sexually abused.

One of the victims said he was so scared of what the accused would do to him that he considered jumping from a two-story window in the 8400 block of Ashford Green Lane where they were being held, according to an investigator's affidavit.

Federal authorities say Alex Julco, a U.S. permanent resident, and Rigoberto Jaimes-Vargas and Francisco Gomez, both Mexican citizens, held illegal immigrants at the stash house and repeatedly called the men's families to force them to pay for their release.

Authorities cracked the case in late August.

Investigators said that a woman in Virginia called the Fairfax County Police Department on Aug. 28 to say that a man was forcing her pay him thousands of dollars for her brother's release.

She said her brother had paid smugglers to bring him to the United States and that after she paid $1,500 more, she was asked to pay another $1,500, then another $2,500 after that.

That's when she called police.

Federal agents traced the phone calls made to the woman to the Houston home, and agents raided the house Aug. 29 and found 11 men, including the Virginia woman's brother, being held there. They were determined to be illegal immigrants who had been smuggled into the country.

Agents also found Julco, Jaimes-Vargas and Gomez, who were arrested and jailed.

The trio told investigators their version of how they became involved in the smuggling scheme.

Julco, whom captives said was known as “El Diablo,â€