Mission bar owner convicted of sex trafficking in connection with pimping of underage undocumented immigrants
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September 23, 2010 6:49 PM
The Monitor

McALLEN — A federal jury has convicted a Mission bar owner of sex trafficking.

Beleal Garcia Gonzalez, 34, was found guilty Thursday of all three counts of sex trafficking he faced, as well as conspiracy to harbor aliens and six counts of harboring aliens, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Garcia was convicted after a three-day trial during which agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement testified they learned in January 2010 that underage undocumented immigrants were being forced to work at El Paraiso bar and were being prostituted by Garcia, the owner of the establishment. The investigation resulted in agents finding three minors — a 17-year-old, a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old — working at the bar and being pimped by Garcia.

Each of the minors testified during trial that while in Honduras they were promised a job in the United States working at a restaurant and making $700 a week. However, once they arrived in the U.S., they found out they would be working at the bar Garcia owned, making $120 a week, much of which was taken to pay the smuggling fees of $4,500 each owed to Garcia.

The minor victims testified that Garcia explained to them they could make $3 for every beer a customer bought them and would make even more money if they had sex with customers, because they would be able to keep whatever money they decided to charge the customer for sex, less $50 to be paid to Garcia.

After the minors began working at the bar, they realized they were not making any money because Garcia never paid them. Needing money, they turned to the other option that Garcia had offered — prostitution.

One minor testified she had been paid to have sex with men on six different occasions. A co-defendant, Cesar Enrique Sarmiento Mendoza, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking prior to Garcia's trial , testified that on one occasion, while Garcia was in Mexico, Garcia called him to tell him to pick up and transport two of the girls to his house so two customers could take the girls out.

Sarmiento testified he picked up the minors and received the money from the customers for these girls to engage in sex. Another minor testified that on one occasion a customer paid $300 to have sex with her; however, she did not leave with him. Garcia was upset by her refusal to go with the john. She also testified that although she never left with customers, customers at the bar would grope her while she drank beer with them there.

The jury deliberated only briefly before returning its verdict, which was accepted by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane. Sentencing i set for Dec. 9.

Garcia faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years imprisonment on each of the sex trafficking convictions and up to 10 years imprisonment on the other counts of conviction, as well as substantial fines.

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