Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that EFRAIN GRANADOS-CORONA, a/k/a “Chavito,” a/k/a “Cepillo,” pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter to sex trafficking by use of force, fraud, or coercion. Five additional defendants in this case – JULIO SAINZ-FLORES, a/k/a “Rogelio,” JUAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, a/k/a “Chegoya,” a/k/a “El Guero,” ALAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, a/k/a “El Flaco,” PEDRO ROJAS-ROMERO, and EMILIO ROJAS-ROMERO – pled guilty to sex trafficking offenses last month before U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “These defendants systematically preyed on innocent women and girls in Mexico, smuggled them into the United States, and forced them into prostitution – depriving them of their freedom and dignity. The devastation to these victims caused by the defendants is beyond comprehension. With the defendants’ guilty pleas, we seek to deliver justice for the victims, and to deter others from engaging in this reprehensible conduct.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment to which each defendant pled guilty, public court filings, and statements made in court:
EFRAIN GRANADOS-CORONA, a/k/a “Chavito,” a/k/a “Cepillo,” JULIO SAINZ-FLORES, a/k/a “Rogelio,” JUAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, a/k/a “Chegoya,” a/k/a “El Guero,” ALAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, a/k/a “El Flaco,” PEDRO ROJAS-ROMERO, and EMILIO ROJAS-ROMERO, the defendants, are members of an international sex trafficking organization (the “STO”). Many of the members of the STO are related by blood, marriage and community.
Between at least in or about 2000 and 2016, members of the STO (the “Traffickers”) have used false promises, physical and sexual violence, threats of the same, lies, and coercion to force and coerce adult and minor women (the “Victims”) to work in prostitution in both Mexico and the United States.
In most cases, a Trafficker enticed a Victim – frequently a minor – in Mexico. The Trafficker then used multiple means to isolate the Victim from her family. In some cases, the Trafficker used romantic promises to induce the Victim to leave her family and live with him. In other cases, the Trafficker raped the Victim, making it difficult for her to return to her family due to the associated stigma of the rape. Once a Victim was separated from her family, the Trafficker frequently monitored her communications, kept her locked in an apartment, left her without food, and engaged in physical or sexual violence against the Victim. Traffickers often told Victims that the Traffickers owed a significant debt and that the Victim must work in prostitution to assist in repaying the debt. Traffickers typically began forcing the Victims to work in prostitution in Mexico. Victims were often required to see at least 20 to 40 customers per day. Traffickers monitored the number of clients a Victim saw by surveilling the Victim, communicating with brothel workers, and by counting the number of condoms provided to a Victim. Traffickers typically required the Victims to turn over all of the prostitution proceeds to the Traffickers.
After a Victim worked in prostitution in Mexico for some time, Traffickers typically arranged for the Victim to be smuggled into the United States. Members of the STO assisted one another in making smuggling arrangements. In many cases, multiple Traffickers and multiple Victims were smuggled into the United States together. In other cases, one Trafficker remained in Mexico while arranging for a Victim to be smuggled together with another Trafficker and other Victims.
Once in the United States, the members of the STO generally maintained their Victims at one of several shared apartments in New York City. Victims living in the same apartment were frequently forbidden to communicate with one another. Once in the United States, Traffickers continued to use physical and sexual violence, threats of the same, lies, and coercion to force the Victims to work in prostitution.
In most cases, the Trafficker or another member of the STO provided a Victim with contact information with which to find work. The Victims typically worked weeklong shifts either in a brothel, or in a “delivery service.” In a delivery service, the Victim was delivered to a customer’s home by a “driver.” These brothels and delivery services were located both within New York and in surrounding states, including but not limited to Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Generally, each customer paid $30-35 for 15 minutes of sex. Of that, half of the money typically went to the driver (in the case of a delivery service) or to the brothel. The other $15 went to the Victim, who was then typically forced to give all of the proceeds to the Trafficker. When a Trafficker was unavailable, a Victim might also give the proceeds to another member of the STO.
The Traffickers then frequently sent, or had their Victims send, some of the prostitution proceeds to Traffickers’ family members and associates in Mexico by wire transfer. Such transfers provided financial assistance to the Traffickers’ families and provided financial support to the Traffickers themselves if they returned to Mexico.
EFRAIN GRANADOS-CORONA, 43, of Mexico, pled guilty to sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
JULIO SAINZ-FLORES, 37, of Mexico, pled guilty to sex trafficking of a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
JUAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, 33, ALAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, 28, PEDRO ROJAS-ROMERO, 40, and EMILIO ROJAS-ROMERO, 37, all of Mexico, pled guilty to conspiring to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Carter in early 2020.
