7 plead guilty in federal prostitution case
Investigation focused on illegal aliens from Central America and Mexico

Published: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 2:00 am


By Eric Connor
STAFF WRITER
econnor@greenvillenews.com

Seven people accused of running an Upstate prostitution ring that authorities said trafficked in as many as 100 illegal aliens from Central and South America over the course of the past two years pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to charges that could land each of them in prison for 10 years.

The seven now await sentencing. An eighth person charged, the alleged ringleader, is still on the loose, U.S. Assistant Attorney Walt Wilkins said. Authorities have alleged that the prostitution ring stretched beyond the Upstate and South Carolina. "We're certainly talking and sharing information with other agencies," Wilkins said, "and the investigation is ongoing."

The investigation began last year when an informant turned over to authorities a business card used to advertise the availability of illegal alien prostitutes from Central America and Mexico, authorities said.

Potential "johns" were told to call a number and ask for "Corina," who would see that chaffeurs and money handlers would transport the women to various locations to engage in prostitution, according to testimony in federal court Tuesday.

Maria Adelfa-Letrado -- the woman accused of being the ring's "madam" known as "Corina" -- pleaded guilty in connection with the ring that authorities said trafficked illegal aliens into the Upstate from Atlanta and North Carolina who had been smuggled into the United States from Mexico.

Pleading guilty to "importation of alien for immoral purpose" and "coercion or enticement of female" were Letrado, German Garcia, Fricman Alexander Rodriguez and Carlos Castillo-Rodriguez. Pleading guilty to "importation of alien for immoral purpose" were Aztlan Jaimes-Santana and Rolando Hernandez-Hernandez. Adriana Hernandez-Ramirez pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to defraud the United States."

They now await sentencing, which should take place in about two months, Wilkins said.

The alleged local ringleader, Educardo Escobar Duque, is still at large, Wilkins said.

During the prostitution sting, undercover officers saw women being housed in a Dorsey Boulevard home west of Greenville and driven to various locations to meet "johns," authorities said.

Investigators picked through trash and found more than 100 condoms during a September raid at the home and at two homes on White Horse Road, according to testimony.

From week to week, women in their teens and 20s were rotated in and out of the Upstate while kept "under lock and key" by handlers who would drive them to various locations for the purposes of prostitution, according to testimony.

The raids netted the arrest of six women ages 18 to 22 from Mexico and El Salvador who authorities charged were actively engaging in prostitution. In the ring, women -- brought in from the Charlotte, Raleigh and Atlanta areas -- would be rotated from town to town every eight to 10 days.

The women are being held in women's shelters as material witnesses.

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