WOMEN INVOLVED IN SEX TRAFFICKING CASE FACE ADDITIONAL CHARGES

HOUSTON, TX - A Houston grand jury has returned a superseding indictment adding more federal charges against two women allegedly involved in an organization that trafficked Central American females into the United States and compelled their service at Houston area bars and restaurants through force, fraud and coercion, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle and Assistant Attorney General Wan Kim, Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, announced today.

Olga Mondragon, 45, and Maria Fuentes, 35, and six co-defendants were originally indicted on December 12, 2005, in a two-count indictment that accused them all of engaging in conspiracies to recruit, smuggle and harbor illegal aliens in the United States and holding the aliens in conditions of peonage. The other six defendants accused in the original indictment have been convicted for their roles in the trafficking organization and are awaiting sentencing.

On Wednesday, October 25, 2006, a federal grand jury returned a 19-count indictment, which accuses Olga Mondragon, and Maria Fuentes, jointly with Forced Labor Conspiracy, and Harboring Illegal Aliens. Olga Mondragon is also charged individually with seven counts of Forced Labor relating to seven Central American females, and two counts of Alien Smuggling. Maria Fuentes is charged individually with seven counts of Forced Labor relating to seven different Central American females. All of the Central American females were allegedly recruited and illegally smuggled into the United States, then forced to labor at Houston area bars and restaurants owned and/or operated by the defendants or coconspirators by means of threats of serious harm and physical restraint and the abuse of the legal process.

Arraignment of both defendants on the new charges is set for November 1, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. Olga Mondragon is presently free on bond. Maria Fuentes is detained pending trial.

According to the superseding indictment, in addition to routinely recruiting and smuggling women and girls from Central America with the expectation of legitimate jobs in restaurants in Houston, Texas, only to be held in forced service in bars and restaurants owned or operated by the coconspirators through coercion and threats of harm until smuggling debts of $6,000 - $14,000 were paid, this new indictment also alleges that the trafficking scheme also involved the abuse of the legal process through the confiscation of identification and court documents as a means of holding the females in forced service.

The Forced Labor Conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five (5) years imprisonment upon conviction. A conviction for Harboring Illegal Alien for Commercial Advantage and Financial Gain Conspiracy, and the substantive smuggling and harboring charges carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. Each of the seven forced labor counts alleged against Olga Mondragon and Maria Fuentes carries a punishment range of up to 20 years imprisonment upon conviction.

The other six defendants accused in the original indictment have been convicted for their roles in the trafficking organization and are awaiting sentences. Maximino Mondragon, a.k.a. Chimino, and Maria Fuentes' husband, Walter Alexander Corea, Victor Omar Lopez, Oscar Mondragon, and Kerin Silva pleaded guilty and stand convicted of a Servitude Trafficking Conspiracy. The sixth defendant, Lorenza Reyes-Nunez, has pleaded guilty to Obstruction of Justice.

Prosecuting the perpetrators of human trafficking crimes remains a top priority of the Justice Department. The investigation leading to the filing of criminal charges is the result of a year long investigation conducted by members of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA) in Houston, Texas, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO), Texas Alcoholic and Beverage Commission (TABC), and the Constables Offices of Precincts One and Five. Assistant United States Attorneys Ruben R. Perez and Joe Magliolo, and Trial Attorneys Lou de Baca and James Felte with the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, are prosecuting the case.

An indictment or superseding indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.