Thread: 3 Raleigh Men Indicted For Allegedly Running Prostitution Ri

http://www.wral.com/news/5183567/detail.html

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Three Raleigh men were indicted Wednesday on charges of trafficking women and minors for prostitution.

According to an indictment handed up by the U.S. Attorney's Office, three men -- Valente Chavez Sanchez, 22; Melania Corcino, 43; and Jose Altagracia DeLeon Corcino, 25 -- operated a prostitution ring out of Raleigh, Lillington and Fuquay-Varina between November 1997 and August 2004.

Investigators said the men sold $25 tickets to men for access to locations that housed females, including minors. According to the indictment, the men recruited women and minor children from eastern North Carolina and other states to serve as prostitutes.

All three men were indicted on charges of sex trafficking of minor children; sex trafficking through force, fraud and coercion; and interstate transportation of persons for purpose of prostitution.

If convicted, the men could face fines and a maximum of five years in prison.

My My....are these some of the "hard-working immigrants that will do jobs Americans won't do as they seek the better life and the American Dream"?

Five Years?

Only Five Years?

For whoring children?

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/ ... 5057c.html

Some more information.

3 accused of operating brothels
Women, girls allegedly held at Wake, Harnett houses

By ANDREA WEIGL AND JIM NESBITT, Staff Writers

RALEIGH -- Pimps recruited out-of-state women and North Carolina girls as young as 14 to staff brothels in Wake and Harnett counties, according to federal charges against three Raleigh residents.
Valente Chavez Sanchez, 23; Melania "Maritza" Corcino, 43; and Jose Altagracia Deleon Corcino, 25, engaged in sex trafficking by bringing women from New York, New Jersey and Maryland and finding girls to work at the three brothels, according to a four-count indictment released this week.

The prostitution went on seven years, the charges say, and the defendants kept the women under "lock and key."

Sanchez has been arrested and awaits a detention hearing Monday. The status of the Corcinos was unclear.

The presence of a brothel at 10129 Fayetteville Road north of Fuquay-Varina featuring a monthly rotation of underage prostitutes was well-known to Hispanic employees of Tom Williams' now-defunct flooring company, Williams said.

"This one isn't the only one I've heard of," said Williams, 49, who lives with his mother on Stephens Pond Drive, a few yards south of the Fayetteville Road property.

The brothel was a full-bore weekend operation in 2004, Williams said. On Friday and Saturday nights, cars came and went, using Stephens Pond Drive as a route to the rear of the house.

Increase in brothels

The indictment says the sex ring operated until August 2004 and ran that brothel and two others at 3305 Poole Road in Raleigh and in Lassiter's Mobile Home Park in Lillington.

Soon after, investigators seized false Social Security cards, alien resident cards, business cards, tapes, poker chips, playing cards and condom wrappers from the Poole Road location and two duplexes on Ashe Avenue in Raleigh, search warrants say.

Little is known about the victimized women and children; federal prosecutors declined to comment.

But the indictment says the defendants recruited as a prostitute a 14-year-old girl, whom prosecutors did not name, and says Melania Corcino paid a minor to prostitute herself at the Fuquay-Varina brothel in June 2003.

There has been an increase in brothels catering to Hispanics in recent years, police said. "As the Hispanic population has increased, the incidents have sort of followed suit," said Raleigh Police spokesman Jim Sughrue.

Officials with the Wake County Sheriff's Office said Hispanics seemed to be the clientele of one or two of up to five brothels the office shut down in the past three years.

The brothels often escape the notice of law enforcement and neighbors, said the Rev. Shay Auerbach, associate pastor of St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church in North Raleigh. "They're under the radar screen, but the Hispanic community is well aware of these places," said Auerbach, who speaks fluent Spanish.

About four years ago, police raided a brothel catering to Hispanics at an apartment complex near the church, he said.

"What you have is an immigrant population -- a lot of young men, some single, some married, away from home and their families," Auerbach said. "It's a vice, and I preach against it, but it's as old as immigration itself. It's one response to being lonely."

Job descriptions

With the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, federal prosecutors have targeted criminals bringing women from Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. In recent years, arrests have been made in Florida, New York, Illinois and Texas.

In the local case, the indictment details the operation and the defendants' specific roles:

* Sanchez arranged the transportation of prostitutes from New York, New Jersey and Maryland, the indictment says. The women typically would work a week in a brothel in Raleigh or Durham and then be exchanged for other out-of-state prostitutes. The price Sanchez paid for each new prostitute was $130.

* Jose Corcino, whose nickname is "Frankie Boss," would collect money from customers, the indictment says. The customers would pay $25 for 15 minutes. Armed guards made sure customers did not exceed their allotted time.

* Melania Corcino paid the prostitutes weekly, the indictment says. She was operating a brothel at the Lillington location as early as November 1997, and the Fuquay-Varina and Raleigh locations were in business by 2003 and 2004, respectively.

The trio also used fake business cards to "clandestinely advertise their prostitution houses," the indictment says. Some business cards seized in the investigation listed a plumbing service at the Poole Road location.

Next door to that duplex lives Henry Frazier, 82, a retired heavy equipment operator who has lived there with his wife, Lucille, for 11 years.

While the neighborhood is quiet now, Frazier said, it was a different story last year. During the week, Frazier said the duplex next door was quiet, occupied by a man and woman. At the start of the weekend, other women carrying suitcases would arrive, escorted by men.

And on Friday and Saturday nights, cars of young men would roll through his driveway and park in his front yard. Loud music and late-night partying forced him and his wife to sleep in a bedroom on the opposite side of the house.

Frazier, an honorary deacon at Upper Room Church of God in Christ, said he tried to meet the couple next door.

"I tried to get friendly with them, invite them to church, but they were in a different world than mine," he said.

(News researcher Brooke Cain contributed to this report.)

Staff writer Andrea Weigl can be reached at 829-4848 or aweigl@newsobserver.com.

www.mydailyrecord.com

Landlord Shocked Property Used In Prostitution Ring

Jon Soles
Reporter

A Harnett County landlord said he was shocked to hear that one of his rented mobile homes was used as a brothel by three suspects arrested on sex trafficking charges.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the indictments of three people involved in a prostitution ring involving girls as young as 14, in Harnett and Wake counties. The ring involved swapping prostitutes with other sex rings operated in New York, New Jersey and Maryland. They paid about $130 for each prostitute, according to the indictment.

The federal jury indicted Valente Chavez Sanchez, 22, Melania Corcino, 43, and Jose Altagracia DeLeon Corcino, 25, all of Raleigh on charges of sex trafficking of minor children, sex trafficking through force, fraud, coercion and the interstate transportation of persons with intent that such persons engage in prostitution.

The three suspects rented properties where “customers� would come and buy a $25 “ticket� for 15 minutes of sex with a prostitute, according to the indictment. The alleged crimes occurred between November 1997 and August 2004.

One of the brothels was set up in a trailer at Lot 2, Lassiter’s Mobile Home Park on Old U.S. 421, west of Lillington, according to the indictment. The park’s owner, Tom Lassiter, said he was shocked to hear that one of his trailers was used for prostitution.

“It was Lot 2. At that time, it was just a little old teeny trailer,� Mr. Lassiter said. “I just can’t see any traffic there. I would have noticed something.�

The Lot 2 trailer allegedly used by the suspects was removed and disposed of, Mr. Lassiter said.

“Since then, I’ve changed the mobile home. The same mobile home isn’t there anymore,� he said. “It was a little teeny home and I changed it out to a larger one.�

According to the indictment, one of the defendants, Ms. Corcino, known as “Maritza� and the other co-conspirators were found “engaged in commercial sex activity� at Lot 2.

Mr. Lassiter owns several mobile home parks in Harnett County and keeps a close eye on all of them. He said he doesn’t recall any suspicious activity at his Lot 2 trailer eight years ago.

“I was pretty taken aback because I’m usually around them every day,� Mr. Lassiter said. “I didn’t know something like that would go on there, if it did go on.�

Mr. Lassiter said he doesn’t recognize the names of the suspects as former tenants.

After leaving Lassiter’s Mobile Home Park, the suspects moved to a property at 10129 Fayetteville Road, Fuquay-Varina, where one of the suspects placed a minor to work as a prostitute. The investigation documented money collected by Mr. Corcino, also known as “Frankie Boss,� at the Fayetteville Road property. Ms. Corcino allegedly paid the young girl for her work, according to the indictment.

On Sept. 11, 2003, an armed conspirator and three customers were involved in commercial sex at the Fayetteville Road home, the indictment said.

In January 2004, the suspects rented a home at 3305 Poole Road, Raleigh, which was used as a “house of prostitution,� according to the indictment. A garbage bag outside the home was found to contain approximately 50 used condoms, condom wrappers and creams.

The suspects are accused of recruited minor children from North Carolina to work as prostitutes. They would keep the woman and girls working for them by locking them inside the rented properties, according to the indictment.

Guards Make Sure Time Limit Kept

Mr. Corcino was the suspect who collected the money from customers, the indictment said. Armed men were hired as security guards to make sure customers did not exceed 15 minutes with a prostitute, according to the indictment.

If convicted the suspects could face a maximum of life in prison for the sex trafficking through force charge, a maximum of five years imprisonment for sex trafficking of minors and a maximum of 10 years imprisonment for interstate transportation of the victims. The suspects could also be fined up to $750,000.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. U.S. Attorney Banumathi Rangarajan is the prosecuting attorney.