Department of Justice

The Department of Justice enforces federal laws, seeks just punishment for the guilty, and ensures the fair and impartial administration of justice.

Washington, D.C. Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison and Ordered to Pay Restitution of More Than $20,000 to the Minor Victim He Sex Trafficked for His Prostitution Business
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Washington, D.C. Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison and Ordered to Pay Restitution of More Than $20,000 to the Minor Victim He Sex Trafficked for His Prostitution Business

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte today sentenced Sirron Little, age 32, of Washington, D.C., to 10 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for sex trafficking of a minor to engage in commercial sex acts.  Little recruited the victim, a homeless 15-year-old girl, to work for him…

Statement From U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson On National Human Trafficking Prevention Month
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Statement From U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson On National Human Trafficking Prevention Month

LAS VEGAS – The U.S. Attorney’s Office released the following statement from U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada today to commemorate National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness: “January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and today is National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness. “Traffickers exploit and…

Federal Law Enforcement Partners Commemorate National Human Trafficking Awareness Day–January 11, 2023
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Federal Law Enforcement Partners Commemorate National Human Trafficking Awareness Day–January 11, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore.—Today, federal law enforcement partners from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon, FBI Portland Field Office, and Homeland Security Investigations Seattle Field Office join to commemorate National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and reaffirm their commitment to combating all forms of human trafficking. “Human trafficking devastates families and communities and preys on…

Defendant Extradited to the United States from Mexico to Face Sex Trafficking Charges
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Defendant Extradited to the United States from Mexico to Face Sex Trafficking Charges

Leonardo Jimenez-Rodriguez was extradited to the United States yesterday and is scheduled to be arraigned today before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr., at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn on a six-count indictment charging him with sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking, interstate prostitution, alien smuggling and related offenses.  The defendant was arrested in…

Thai Woman Pleads Guilty to Her Role in International Sex Trafficking Conspiracy
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Thai Woman Pleads Guilty to Her Role in International Sex Trafficking Conspiracy

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Sumalee Intarathong has pleaded guilty to her role in a large-scale international Thai sex trafficking organization, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger. “Today’s guilty plea marks the final conviction in a years-long international sex trafficking prosecution resulting in 37 convictions,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger. “Ms. Intarathong, worked directly…

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Owner of Farm Labor Company Sentenced to 118 Months in Prison for Leading a Multi-State Conspiracy Involving Forced Labor of Mexican Farm Workers

Tampa, FL –  Bladimir Moreno, 55, was sentenced for leading a federal racketeering and forced labor conspiracy that victimized Mexican H-2A agricultural workers in the United States between 2015 and 2017. U.S. District Court Judge Charlene Edward Honeywell of the Middle District of Florida sentenced Moreno to 118 months in prison with three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay over $175,000 in restitution to the victims.

Moreno, the owner of Los Villatoros Harvesting LLC (LVH), the labor contracting company that employed the workers, was charged in September 2021 and pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and conspiracy to commit forced labor. Two of Moreno’s co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy under RICO, and a third, Guadalupe Mendes, 45, pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct a federal investigation. They were sentenced in October 2022. Rodas, a citizen of Mexico, who worked for LVH as a recruiter, manager and supervisor, received 41 months in prison. Gamez, a U.S. citizen, who worked for LVH as a bookkeeper, manager and supervisor, received 37 months in prison. Mendes, a U.S. citizen, who worked for LVH as a manager and supervisor, received eight months of home detention and a $5,500 fine to be paid over 24 months of supervised release.

“Human trafficking, including forced labor campaigns that exploit vulnerable workers, is unlawful, immoral and inhumane,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This defendant abused his power as a business owner to capitalize on the victims’ vulnerabilities and immigration status, luring those seeking a better quality of life with false promises of lawful work paying a fair wage. The defendant forced Mexican agricultural workers to labor under inhumane conditions, confiscated their passports, imposed exorbitant fees and debts, and threatened them with deportation or false arrest. The Department of Justice is committed to seeking justice for survivors of forced labor campaigns, holding perpetrators accountable and stripping wrongdoers of their illegal profits.”

“Forcing individuals to work against their will using abusive and coercive tactics is not only unconscionable but illegal,” said U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “We will continue to work with our task force partners to combat human trafficking in all its forms, including prosecuting those who exploit vulnerable workers.” 

According to court documents, Moreno owned, operated and managed LVH — a farm labor contracting company that brought large numbers of temporary, seasonal Mexican workers into the United States on H-2A agricultural visas — as a criminal enterprise. Moreno compelled victims to work in Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia and North Carolina, and he engaged in a pattern of other racketeering activity that included visa fraud and fraud in foreign labor contracting, among other things. In order to facilitate the enterprise, Moreno made false statements in applications to federal agencies for the company to be granted temporary, H-2A agricultural workers. Moreno and his co-conspirators also made false promises to the Mexican farm workers themselves to encourage them to work for LVH and then charged them inflated sums to come into the United States on H-2A visas.

Once the immigrants arrived in the United States, Moreno and his co-conspirators coerced over a dozen of them into providing long hours of physically demanding agricultural labor, six to seven days a week, for de minimis pay. Moreno and his co-conspirators used various forms of coercion, including imposing debts on the workers; confiscating their passports; subjecting them to crowded, unsanitary and degrading living conditions; harboring them in the United States after their visas had expired; and threatening them with arrest and deportation if they failed to comply with Moreno’s and his co-conspirators’ demands. Later, in an attempt to conceal the criminal enterprise from federal investigators, Moreno created and provided to investigators fraudulent records that contained falsified information about the workers’ pay and hours, and repeatedly made false statements to federal investigators.

Assistant Attorney General Clarke, U.S. Attorney Handberg and Acting Special Agent in Charge DeWitt announced the sentence.

The Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. The Task Force received assistance from the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Colorado Legal Services Migrant Farm Worker Division, Legal Aid Services of Oregon Farmworker Program and Indiana Legal Services Worker Rights and Protection Project.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ilyssa Spergel for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorneys Avner Shapiro, Maryam Zhuravitsky and Matthew Thiman of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Department of Justice’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

Truck Driver Sentenced to 37 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking a Minor Victim and Producing Videos of the Abuse
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Truck Driver Sentenced to 37 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking a Minor Victim and Producing Videos of the Abuse

PITTSBURGH, PA – A former resident of Hammond, Indiana, has been sentenced in federal court to 444 months in prison followed by lifetime supervision on his conviction of sex trafficking a minor and production of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today. United States District Judge…

Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years in Prison for Kidnapping
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Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years in Prison for Kidnapping

SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was sentenced Thursday to 190 months in prison for conspiring to kidnap and transport an undocumented noncitizen. According to court documents, Rosalio Cano Jr., 22, transported an undocumented noncitizen to multiple locations in or around San Antonio over a five-day period.  During this time, co-conspirators were in contact…

St. Paul Woman Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Trafficking Conspiracy
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St. Paul Woman Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Trafficking Conspiracy

MINNEAPOLIS – A St. Paul woman has pleaded guilty to her role in a sex trafficking conspiracy after recruiting six minor victims to engage in commercial sex acts, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger. According to court documents, from May 2020 through December 2020, Gisela Castro Medina, 20, conspired with co-defendant Anton Joseph Lazzaro,…