Nine Venezuelan nationals plead guilty in Nashville sex trafficking ring
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Nine Venezuelan citizens have pleaded guilty to crimes in what federal prosecutors described as a family-run sex trafficking ring that lured vulnerable women to the United States with promises of jobs before forcing them into prostitution in the Nashville area.
Members of the organization recruited women in Venezuela, arranged for them to be smuggled into the United States and then transported them to Nashville, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday. When they arrived, the victims were told they had inflated trafficking debts that could only be paid through commercial sex acts, prosecutors said.
Women who refused were threatened with violence against themselves and their relatives still living in Venezuela, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said that the traffickers also took a share of the women’s earnings while collecting the debts.
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In court documents, federal prosecutors identified a Super 8 motel in Nashville as one of the locations where members of a Venezuelan sex trafficking ring operated. (DOJ)
Authorities identified Yilibeth Carmen Rivero-de Caldera and her son Kleiver Daniel Mota Rivero as the leaders of the operation and claimed that they recruited relatives and associates to help carry out the plan.
Investigators said Rivero, Mota and co-defendant Ramon De Jesus Velasquez Martinez used firearms and threats of violence to intimidate victims. Prosecutors also alleged that Mota claimed to have ties to a Venezuelan prison gang and publicly stated that he had previously been sentenced to prison in Venezuela for a murder charge to prevent the victims from resisting or leaving.
“Human smuggling and smuggling operations represent a dangerous combination of exploitation and lawlessness,” Deputy Attorney General A. Tysen Duva wrote in a statement. “These perpetrators have profited from human suffering while disrupting the integrity of our borders. These convictions show that protecting vulnerable individuals and securing our border are not competing goals.”
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An exterior view of a Super 8 motel in Nashville identified in court documents as one of the locations that federal prosecutors say was used in a sex-trafficking scheme. (DOJ)
Eight defendants pleaded guilty to charges that carry aggravated life imprisonment, while the ninth defendant faced up to 20 years in prison.
Sentencing is scheduled for the week of November 16.
A SoMaTel motel in Nashville was identified in court documents as one of the locations that federal prosecutors say was used in the sex trafficking scheme. (DOJ)
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The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, as well as the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and other federal, state, and local agencies.
Fox News Digital has contacted Homeland Security Investigations and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for additional information.
