Three Cuban citizens were each sentenced for sex trafficking and other crimes in Houston, Texas-area strip clubs, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Rasiel Gutierrez Moreno, 38, was handed down a sentence of more than 17 years, while Hendry Jimenez Milanes, 39, was given a 10-year sentence. A third defendant, Rafael Mendoza Labrada, 29, was sentenced to more than two years of time served.
Moreno was also ordered to pay $451,298 in restitution, and Milanes was ordered to pay $359,108, the Justice Department said.
DEFUND THE POLICE MOVEMENT WRECKS AMERICA’S THIRD-LARGEST CITY
“These human smugglers terrorized female migrants, using Houston’s strip clubs combined with psychological threats and sexual violence for their personal financial gain,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani. “The victims came to the United States in search of a new life, were especially vulnerable, and the defendants took advantage of that.”
Moreno pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.
He admitted to bringing women to the U.S. from Cuba, while charging them $30,000 in “inflated smuggling debts,” prosecutors said. He forced women to work in Houston strip clubs, such as Michaels’ International, where they were forced to engage in sex acts with patrons, authorities said.
Moreno kept the money from the sales, they said. Moreno admitted to forcing at least 20 women to work in the clubs. He further admitted to keeping one woman under his control. He bragged about acting violently toward other women and their families, federal prosecutors said.
On one occasion, he beat a woman and made sure another victim saw that woman’s injuries. When one woman escaped, he contacted her family in Miami and Cuba to demand she return to work and finish paying her debt to him.
Milanes pleaded guilty last year to coercion and enticement, while Labrada pleaded to interstate travel in aid of racketeering.