Fourth Defendant Sentenced For Role in Atlanta-Based Mexican Sex Trafficking Ring

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Severiano Martinez-Rojas, 53, of Mexico, was sentenced on Friday by United States District Judge Edward R. Korman to over 24 years in prison for his role in the sex trafficking of three victims. The amount to be paid in restitution will be announced at a later date.

The defendant is the fourth member of an Atlanta-based Mexican sex trafficking ring convicted for their roles in compelling young women from Mexico and Central America to engage in commercial sex.  Co-defendants Arturo Rojas-Coyotl and Odilon Martinez-Rojas previously pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and were sentenced to 16 years and 21 years and 10 months in prison, respectively. Both defendants were also ordered to pay $180,000 in restitution to the victims.  A third co-defendant, Daniel Garcia-Tepal, pleaded guilty to alien harboring and received a sentence of time served.

“Human trafficking is disgraceful and unacceptable. Today’s sentence demonstrates the Department of Justice’s unwavering commitment to combatting these crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “This sex trafficking enterprise was extensive and resulted in the abuse of young women and girls. The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is thankful for the hard work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Georgia, the FBI, and the Homeland Security Investigations team who helped deliver justice on behalf of the victims and survivors.”

“Sex trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that exploits and traumatizes some of the most vulnerable members of our society,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.  “We stand united today with our colleagues at the Department of Justice, Eastern District of New York, and federal law enforcement partners, in applauding the courage of the three victims in this case who remained determined to see this prosecution to its conclusion. The lengthy prison sentence that this final defendant has received in this case is primarily the result of the valiant efforts of these human trafficking survivors to hold their traffickers accountable.”

“This case represents why sex trafficking is such a high priority matter for the FBI, our law enforcement partners, and the non-government agencies who provide assistance to those with nowhere else to turn,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “As one of the worst examples of human trafficking, this case should resonate with those who might consider this reprehensible criminal conduct acceptable. We urge anyone with information about human trafficking activities to contact authorities and help put an end to modern day slavery.”

According to documents filed in court, between 2006 and 2008, defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas and co-defendants Arturo Rojas-Coyotl and Odilon Martinez-Rojas, lured the three victims into fraudulent romantic relationships using false promises of love, marriage, and legitimate work. They then arranged for others to smuggle the victims across the border into the United States. Once illegally in the United States, the defendants used violence, threats, and intimidation to coerce the victims to perform countless commercial sex acts in the Atlanta area and Alabama, where defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas also operated a brothel.

Defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas was indicted in May 2013 but had remained a fugitive until his arrest in Mexico in November 2015 as part of a coordinated U.S.-Mexico bilateral enforcement action. The action also resulted in the arrests of seven other defendants in a related Eastern District of New York case. Martinez-Rojas was also charged, convicted, and sentenced in that case.

Since 2009, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have collaborated with Mexican law enforcement counterparts in a Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative. The Initiative seeks to more effectively dismantle human trafficking networks operating across the U.S.-Mexico border, bring human traffickers to justice, restore the rights and dignity of human trafficking victims, and reunite victims with their children.  These efforts resulted in successful prosecutions in both Mexico and the United States, including U.S. federal prosecutions of more than 170 defendants in multiple cases in Georgia, New York, Florida, and Texas since 2009, as well as numerous Mexican federal and state prosecutions of associated sex traffickers.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Atlanta Division and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Atlanta.  Assistance with the arrest and extradition of defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas was provided by HSI New York’s Trafficking in Persons Unit, HSI Mexico City Attaché Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the State Department, and Interpol.  The government of Mexico, including Mexico’s Procuraduría General de la República and Policía Federal, also played a prominent role in advancing the bilateral anti-trafficking enforcement efforts in this case.

Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, United States Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak of the Northern District of Georgia, FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker, and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Nick S. Annan, announced the sentence.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr., Chief of the Violent Crime & National Security Section for the Northern District of Georgia, and Deputy Director of Litigation Benjamin J. Hawk of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.