Three Cubans were sentenced for sex trafficking and related crimes in strip clubs in Houston, officials stated Thursday.
Rasiel Gutierrez Moreno, 38, Hendry Jimenez Milanes, 39, and Rafael Mendoza Labrada, 29, were each sentenced to 17 years in prison, ten years in prison, and two years and ten months, respectively.
Gutierrez Moreno pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and interstate travel in aid of racketeering on Oct. 28, 2021.
As part of his plea agreement, Gutierrez Moreno admitted to bringing women from Cuba to the U.S. and imposing inflated smuggling debts as high as $30,000 on them.
Gutierrez Moreno forced the women to work in Houston-area strip clubs, such as Michaels’ International, where they danced and engaged in commercial sex acts with club patrons, providing all the proceeds to Gutierrez Moreno to pay down their debt.
Officials stated that the defendant further acknowledged smuggling and imposing debts to coerce about 20 other women in this manner.
Gutierrez Moreno admitted that, to keep Victim 1 under his control while she worked for him, he bragged about his acts of violence against other women and their families, according to the evidence.
On one occasion, Gutierrez Moreno beat another woman shortly before Victim 1 arrived at his home and ensured that Victim 1 observed that woman’s injuries. When Victim 1 escaped Gutierrez Moreno, the defendant contacted her family in both Miami and Cuba to demand that she return to work and finish paying her debt to him.
Jimenez Milanes pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement on Jan. 10, 2022, and Mendoza Labrada pleaded guilty on April 30, 2021, to interstate travel in aid of racketeering.
“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 S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas. “The victims came to the United States in search of a new life, were especially vulnerable, and the defendants took advantage of that. The sentences imposed today send a strong message that the Southern District of Texas will not tolerate those who smuggle, threaten and abuse the vulnerable.”
“The court’s sentence today sends a strong message: The Diplomatic Security Service is committed to making sure that those who commit sex trafficking face consequences for their criminal actions,” said Special Agent in Charge John Keith of the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Houston Field Office. “DSS’ strong relationship with the Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies around the world continues to be essential in the pursuit of justice.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Zack for the Southern District of Texas and Trial Attorney Kate Hill of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.
If you believe you or someone you know may be a victim of human trafficking, call local law enforcement or the 24/7 confidential National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.