I wonder if children of this woman would qualify under the dream act. And then they would try to get their mom qualified. A woman who forced teenagers into prostitution... The dream act must be put to rest once and for all.

What a despicable woman this is. Just another hard working family eh??



Woman charged with human trafficking
Suspect accused of running a brothel in Little Village and forcing underage girls into prostitution

November 24, 2010|By Matthew Walberg and Annie Sweeney, Tribune reporters

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An alleged madam regularly picked up a 16-year-old girl from her high school and drove her to a basement brothel to work until 8 or 9 p.m. a couple of days a week, authorities charged Wednesday.

Rubicela Montero forced the underage girls and other victims into prostitution and threatened them or their families with death if they quit, authorities said.

One girl called an anonymous hotline and tipped off Chicago police about the brothel in a Little Village basement apartment. Police set up a sting operation, sending in an undercover officer to pose as a client willing to pay for sex. Montero advertised in a Spanish-language newspaper, authorities said.

Montero's eyes teared up and she put her hand over her mouth after she was ordered held on $400,000 bail Wednesday at the Cook County Criminal Courts Building. She is charged with three counts of involuntary servitude, human trafficking and pandering and faces up to 30 years if convicted.


Prosecutors alleged Montero, 39, a married mother with children who was living illegally in the United States, oversaw six women who worked in shifts charging $100 a customer out of a home near 31st Street and Millard Avenue.

Montero recruited the victims with promises of legitimate work, Assistant State's Attorney Louis Longhitano said in court. Clients paid more for sex with the 16-year-old girl, he said.

"The defendant made threats that this is not the kind of business that you can quit and something terrible would happen to the victims or their families," Longhitano said. "One victim was told that something would happen to her daughter, and the other was told that she would turn up dead in an alley."

Several months ago, Chicago police fielded an anonymous call from a woman who called 911 and was routed to a sex trafficking hot line, said Chicago police Lt. Ozzie Valdez. The woman provided them with vague details of the operation along with a phone number.

Armed with the tip, officers from the department's Human Trafficking Task Force searched Hoy, a Spanish-language newspaper owned by the Chicago Tribune Media Group, and matched the phone number given to them by the tipster to one listed in ads offering potential customers "VIP fantasies" and seeking young girls for employment, Valdez said.

On Monday, police sent a Spanish-speaking officer working undercover to the apartment, where he allegedly struck a deal for sex in exchange for $100. Police then raided the home and found Montero and three prostitutes working there, along with buckets filled with condoms and other items used in the sex trade. After interviewing the women, police learned that one of them was the original tipster.

Valdez encouraged other women who have been forced into prostitution or have information about human trafficking to call police even if they don't want to leave their names.

"They should report what they see and repeat what they hear and be as specific as possible," Valdez said. "Even if it's anonymous, the key to any information is the clarity.''

mwalberg@tribune.com

asweeney@tribune.com

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010 ... ostitution