Posted on 08/16/2006 9:35:03 PM PDT by Coleus
Three Union City residents who enforced a nightmarish lifestyle on young Honduran women smuggled into the U.S. and forced to work at three Hudson County bars pleaded guilty Thursday to their roles in the human trafficking ring.
Noris Elvira Rosales Martinez, 29, Ana Luz Rosales Martinez, 37, and Jose Dimas Magana, 40, acknowledged their part in the organization during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton. The three defendants, described by authorities as "enforcers" who meted out discipline and collected smuggling debts, were among 10 alleged ring members indicted a year ago. They pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit forced labor, forced labor and harboring illegal aliens, prosecutors said. Pisano set sentencing for Dec. 18. They face prison terms of up to 20 years on the forced labor count alone. The indictment alleged the undocumented Honduran women -- some as young as 14 -- were recruited from rural villages by the ring with promises of jobs in American restaurants. Once here, the defendants acknowledged, the victims, including underage girls, were forced to work long hours, drink alcohol and dance with bar patrons to pay off human smuggling fees of $10,000 to $20,000.
During the hearing, the defendants said the women were required to dance with patrons for $3 a dance and consume alcohol in order to get the men to buy beers for them. They were also required to join a "Sociedad," which was a method of forced savings in order to pay their smuggling debt, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Camelia M. Valdes. "They would have to pay $250 to $500 a week," she said. Prosecutors said the women were subjected to physical and emotional abuse. Among the abuses cited in the 31-count indictment were the rape of young victims while being smuggled to the United States; beatings if they were not compliant; forced work in the bars up to seven days a week from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.; and threats of deportation or harm to them and their families in Honduras if they did not comply with the ring's demands. Four members of the ring previously accepted plea deals in the case and are awaiting sentencing. They include Jose Nahun Rosales, 35; his wife, Xochil Nectalina Rosales Martinez; and Elsa Isuala Meza, 44, of Houston, who operated a safe house used as a way station on the journey to New Jersey. Meza admitted she conspired to bring at least 20 Honduran women to her house in Houston after they were brought across the Mexican border.
Under a cooperation agreement, Jose Rosales agreed to testify against others in the case, including one of the alleged ringleaders, Luisa Medrano, 50, of Cliffside Park. Medrano, a naturalized U.S. citizen and native of El Salvador, owns the bars where the young women were put to work: El Paisano Bar and Nightclub, at 509 22nd St., Union City; El Puerto de la Union I, at 6710 Bergenline Ave., Guttenberg; and El Puerto de la Union II, at 3806 Bergenline Ave., Union City. Medrano also owned the three apartment buildings where the women were housed: 509 22nd St. and 2604 New York Ave., both in Union City, and 75 68th St. in Guttenberg. Medrano is the last defendant in the United States who is awaiting trial. Her trial is scheduled for Sept. 12. Three ring members are in custody and awaiting prosecution in Honduras and one remains a fugitive, Valdes said.
#$%!ing the Johns that American prostitutes won't #$%!.
Now convict them and incarcerate them for the next 40 years. If they die in prison ship their corpses home freight collect.
L
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