Thread: Two women sentenced in Houston sex ring case

April 1, 2008, 9:03PM
Two women sentenced in Houston sex ring case

By JENNIFER LEAHY
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Comments (26)
Two women who authorities say forced illegal immigrants to work as prostitutes in the Houston-area to pay off their smuggling debts were sentenced Tuesday in federal court.

Olga Mondragon and Maria Fuentes are two of eight people charged with participating in a years-long human smuggling ring that is estimated to have been one of the largest in the country.

The two have pleaded guilty to multiple charges stemming from the ring, authorities said.

Mondragon was sentenced to 84 months in prison and must pay a portion of more than $1.1 million in restitution to the victims. She will also serve three years supervised release and pay $1,300 in special assessments under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore.

Fuentes was convicted of aiding and abetting the harboring of illegal immigrants and was sentenced to time served, said her attorney, Ken McGuire.

Mondragon operated the El Huetamo Nite Club, also known as La Leona Club, in northwest Houston. Fuentes served as a bookkeeper and a bartender for several of the establishments.

For a fee ranging from $6,000 to $12,500, women were transported from Central America to Houston where they were employed as "bargirls" who entertained men in several restaurants and cantinas.

Of the $13 patrons paid per beer, $9 was applied to the smuggling debt. Fees for housing, clothing, transportation and money sent to relatives in Central America were added to the debt, court documents show.

"It's a difficult case — some of the girls wanted to work in the clubs, some of them didn't. Some wanted to stay in the U.S., some wanted to go home," said Don Lambright, Mondragon's attorney.

The human trafficking ring began around November 2001 and operated until December 2005 when it was discovered by law enforcement.

"These cases are a dime a dozen in Houston," said McGuire.

McGuire said his client knowingly participated in human smuggling but that the prostitution was not forced and the women were not captive.

"They had apartments, cars, cell phones. They got married, had babies," McGuire said.

Maximino Mondragon, Oscar Mondragon, Walter Corea and Victor Omar Lopez were all bar and restaurant operators who have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing, authorities said.

Codefendant Lorenza Reyes-Nunez was convicted of obstruction of justice and has been sentenced to 19 months in prison for working with Maximino Mondragon.

Kerin Silva was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants and sentenced to 12 months home detention followed by three years of probation. According to court documents Silva transported the women to the bars and restaurants.

"I have heard from several sources that these bars are still up and running," McGuire added.

jennifer.leahy@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hea ... 66842.html

"I have heard from several sources that these bars are still up and running," McGuire added.

The bars should have been forfeited to take the profit out of crime. They don't hesitate to seize property in drug cases.

"All that is required for evil to triumph is for a few good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke

April 28, 2008, 10:34PM
Man gets 15 years for immigrant prostitution ring
Authorities say the former Houston bar manager — who's among 8 defendants in the case — forced women into servitude to pay smuggling fees


By CINDY GEORGE
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

A former Houston bar manager was sentenced Monday to 15 years behind bars, the stiffest penalty yet in a local human trafficking ring that forced illegal immigrants to work as prostitutes to pay off smuggling debts.

Oscar Mondragon, 49, operated the Mi Cabana Sports Bar on West Tidwell — one outpost of the Houston smuggling operation believed to be one of the country's largest. He is sixth among eight defendants to be sentenced in the case.

For four years, beginning in November 2001, women and girls from Central America were smuggled into the United States under the pretense of waitressing jobs, authorities said.

Instead, to pay off their transportation debt, as many as 120 were forced to have sex with male patrons of bars and cantinas on the northwest side owned or operated by Mondragon, his brothers and others, according to court records.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore sentenced Mondragon's half-brother, Victor Omar Lopez, to nine years for his involvement.

Both men admitted to conspiracy to commit servitude and related trafficking, and to a second conspiracy count involving immigrant smuggling.

As many as 30 women at a time worked in establishments that could have been fully staffed with only two or three waitresses.

Lopez, Mondragon and his brother, Maximino "Chimino" Mondragon, earned money from the servitude of the women with the help of co-defendant Walter Alexander Corea, an admitted smuggler, court records said.

Oscar Mondragon and other conspirators used fear and violence to keep the women under their control, prosecutors said. Defendants have admitted to sexual assault, increasing their victims' debts and threatening to harm relatives abroad if the women did not pay exorbitant smuggling fees.

With other defendants, Oscar Mondragon is responsible for $1.1 million of nearly $1.7 million owed to the victims.

In April, Oscar Mondragon's wife, Olga, was sentenced to seven years in prison and was ordered to pay part of the $1.1 million. Later, Maria Fuentes was convicted of aiding illegal immigrants and was sentenced to time served.

Corea's son, Kerin Silva, was sentenced in February to three years' probation.

Lorenza Reyes-Nunez, who was accused of helping women induce abortions so they could continue working as prostitutes, took a deal with the government. She was sentenced to time served and marked for deportation to Honduras.

Corea and Maximino Mondragon are scheduled for sentencing later this spring.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hot ... 37531.html