Leonardo Jimenez-Rodriguez was extradited to the United States yesterday and is scheduled to be arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr., at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn on a six-count indictment charging him with sex trafficking conspiracy . sex trafficking, interstate prostitution, alien smuggling and related offences. The defendant was arrested in May 2022 in Mexico following a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Mexico City, HSI New York and the Mexican Federal Police.
The defendant is charged in a superseding indictment along with his brother and co-defendant, Marcos Jimenez-Rodriguez, who was previously arrested in the United States. The defendant’s sister, Melisa Jimenez-Rodriguez, was also previously arrested in the United States and is awaiting sentencing on charges of distributing proceeds from a prostitution business.
The extradition and charges were announced by Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent-in-Charge, HSI New York.
“As alleged, using false promises of love and support, the defendant and his siblings brutally sex-trafficked women between Mexico and the United States for more than two decades,” United States Attorney Peace stated. “Stopping human trafficking and ensuring that traffickers face justice for the crimes against their victims remain priorities for this office and our law enforcement partners.”
Mr. Peace praised HSI New York’s Trafficking in Persons Unit for leading the investigation into the Jimenez-Rodriguez Sex Trafficking Organization; thanked the HSI Mexico City Attaché Office, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the Department of State, Interpol, the International Affairs Department of the Attorney General’s Office of Mexico, the Law Enforcement Unit of the State of Tlaxcala Attorney General’s Office, Interpol Mexico, and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for their assistance ; and commended the Government of Mexico for its role in promoting bilateral efforts to enforce human trafficking. Mr. Peace also recognized the non-governmental victim service providers and advocates for their dedicated efforts to restore and improve the lives of trafficking survivors and their families.
“Yesterday’s extradition is the result of years of extraordinary cooperation between law enforcement agencies spanning multiple countries and investigative jurisdictions. Leonardo Jimenez-Rodriguez is alleged to have been part of his family’s transnational human trafficking organization, which offered young women and girls the chance for a better life before he cruelly trapped them in forced sex work with no opportunity to return home,” stated HSI Special. Agent in Charge Arvelo. “HSI is grateful to our colleagues with the HSI Mexico City Attaché Office and our many partners in the United States and Government of Mexico whose cooperation and teamwork makes studies like this possible.”
As alleged in the superseding indictment and other court documents, between 1997 and May 2018, Leonardo Jimenez-Rodriguez was a member of a family organization based in New York and Tenancingo, Mexico, that used force, fraud and coercion to force young women in Mexico to commit in prostitution in the United States (“Jimenez-Rodriguez Trafficking Organization”). Leonardo Jimenez-Rodriguez, along with other relatives, lured victims into romantic relationships through false promises of love and support and pressured the victims to travel to the United States with promises of a better life. After Leonardo Jimenez-Rodriguez and other members of the Jimenez-Rodriguez Trafficking Organization illegally smuggled young women from Mexico into the United States, they used brutal physical beatings, intimidation, psychological abuse, and threats to force or attempt to force the women to work as prostitutes in New York City and elsewhere. The defendant is also charged with having distributed the illegal profits from sex trafficking and prostitution.
The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of the sex trafficking charges, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The investigation, prosecution, bilateral enforcement actions, and extradition of the defendants apprehended in Mexico were coordinated through the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative. Since 2009, the Department of Justice and Homeland Security has partnered with Mexican law enforcement counterparts in a bilateral human trafficking enforcement initiative to more effectively dismantle human trafficking networks operating across the US-Mexico border, bring traffickers to justice, restore the rights and dignity of trafficking victims, and reunite victims with their children. These efforts have resulted in successful prosecutions in both Mexico and the United States, including US federal prosecutions of over 175 defendants in multiple cases in Georgia, New York, Florida and Texas, in addition to numerous Mexican federal and state prosecutions of associated sex traffickers. The extradition in this case is also the latest development in the Eastern District of New York’s extensive anti-trafficking program, which has indicted more than 100 sex-trafficking defendants to date; assisted nearly 200 victims, including over 50 minors, reunited 19 victims’ children with their mothers, and secured over $4 million in restitution orders on behalf of trafficking victims.
The government’s case is handled by the office’s civil rights unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Erin M. Reid, Gillian Kassner, Tara B. McGrath and Lauren Bowman are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Deputy Attorney General Ryan Costley.
LEONARDO JIMENEZ-RODRIGUEZ
Age: 39
Mexico
MARCOS JIMENEZ-RODRIGUEZ
What are the 2 ways that victims usually become involved in sex trafficking?
Age: 46
Queens, New York
What are 2 vulnerable populations to trafficking?
MELISA JIMENEZ-RODRIGUEZ
What are some common ways traffickers get victims into their lives?
Age: 41
- Queens, New York
- E.D.N.Y. Document No. 21-CR-11 (S-1) (EK)
- They may exchange sex for things of value such as food, shelter, drugs/alcohol, transportation, etc. Some victims are on the run or were thrown out by their families. On the same subject : Migrants flock to Mexico refugee offices amid fears of US policy change. They are easy prey for sex traffickers.
- What are the 2 subgroups of human trafficking? Finesse pimps use kindness and psychological games to attract young vulnerable victims. Guerrilla pimping involves the use of violence and intimidation to force the victim into submission.
What are the top 10 cities for human trafficking?
Some population groups are at higher risk of human trafficking Unhoused youth. Refugees or migrant workers. This may interest you : The United States vs. the World: What we can learn from each other’s elections. Those with substance use disorders. Survivors of other forms of past violence.
- Traffickers may use the following methods to lure victims into trafficking situations:
- Violence.
- Manipulation.
- False promises of well-paid jobs.
- Romantic relationships.
- 10 US Cities With the Highest Rates of Human Trafficking
- Washington DC. …
- Atlanta, GA. …
Orlando, FL and Miami, FL. …
Which city has the highest human trafficking rate?
Las Vegas, NV. …
What city in Mexico is known for human trafficking?
Sacramento, CA. …
St. …
Is human trafficking common in Mexico?
Baton Rouge, LA. …
What city is most known for human trafficking?
Columbus, OH and Richmond, VA (tie) Read also : The United States is seeking consultations with the Mexican government regarding Mexico’s energy policy under the USMCA.
