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ICE Agents Arrest Mother and 2 Daughters for Human Trafficking

Women allegedly enticed Mexican girls into the U.S. and forced them to work as prostitutes

A woman and her two daughters were ordered detained without bond this morning for engaging in sex trafficking of children. U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, Western District of Texas, made the announcement. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigated the case.

Isabel Consuelo Ochoa, 59 and her daughters Consuelo Pilar Ochoa, 32 and Maria de Jesus Ochoa, 29, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Primomo. The detention hearing followed their May 25 arrest at their home. All three women were charged with Sex Trafficking of Children by Force, Fraud or Coercion. Based on the ongoing investigation and the victims' statements, it is alleged that the defendants traveled to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, to recruit young girls to work as prostitutes in the San Antonio area.

After arriving in Mexico, the women allegedly enticed young girls to return with them to the United States claiming they would work as escorts but would not be required to have sex with men. Of the three known victims the Ochoa women recruited, two were illegal immigrants who the defendants paid smugglers to illegally cross into the United States; one victim possessed border-crossing documents. The victims in this case are 15, 17, and 22 years old.

After arriving in the in the United States, the victims were told they would have to work as prostitutes for five years to repay the money the defendants had spent. Allegedly the money was spent on smuggling and other expenses they incurred to prepare the young women to be prostitutes. The victims told ICE agents that they were scared to leave because a male associate of the Ochoa's had threatened them with a gun; he also stated that he could find them and their families back in Mexico, and he would have them killed.

This is an ongoing ICE investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bill Baumann and Charles Jenkins, Western District of Texas are prosecuting it.

A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted.

Source: ICE