A man convicted of numerous charges involving prostitution and sex trafficking has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.
German de Jesus Ventura, 35, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Baltimore. Ventura is a citizen of El Salvador who was in the U.S. illegally, living in Capitol Heights.
According to evidence presented at his trial, Ventura ran brothel operations in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia and New York. Prosecutors said Ventura and others recruited and employed prostitutes, many of whom were in the U.S. illegally.
Investigators began looking into Ventura's operation in 2008, which eventually led to the arrests of 19 people on state and federal charges.
Prosecutors said Ventura threatened at least one prostitute to continue working for him, as well as competitor pimps. In one instance, police said he falsely reported a kidnapping and rape in order to falsely implicate another pimp with the crimes.
Officials said Ventura also claimed responsibility for the slaying of competitor pimp Ricardo Ramirez Riva in September 2008 in order to intimidate the competition.
Prosecutors said Ventura also intimidated community members who tried to help his prostitutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment