News
Release
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 02, 2010
Erin Mulvey
Public Information Officer
212 337-2906
Mexican
Couple Plead Guilty To Forcing Mexican
Minor
Into Prostitution In Brooklyn
JUL
02 -- (Brooklyn, NY) Domingo Salazar
and his wife, Norma Mendez, pled guilty
yesterday to sex trafficking charges relating
to their forced prostitution of a minor. Both
defendants face maximum sentences of life
imprisonment, and Salazar also faces a
mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment. The
defendants have been in federal custody
since their arrests in November 2009. The
plea proceedings were held before United
States District Court Judge John Gleeson
at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn.
Between
April 2007 and November 2009, the defendants,
who are Mexican nationals, used physical
violence, threats, and intimidation to force
a 17-year-old Mexican woman (the victim),
to work as a prostitute in and around New
York City and elsewhere. The victim
was not permitted to leave the apartment
where she lived with the defendants in Brooklyn
except to work as a prostitute. Half
of the money she earned was taken by Salazar,
and the balance was kept by drivers who transported
her to work locations.
The
violence used against the victim included
Salazar punching her in the face and body
and beating her with a brick and a wooden
board, and Mendez cutting her with a knife.
In
announcing the guilty pleas, United States
Attorney Loretta E. Lynch expressed her grateful
appreciation to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s
New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement “Strike
Force” (Strike Force) - which is comprised
of agents and officers of the United States
Drug Enforcement Administration, the New
York City Police Department, the United States
Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation
Division, the Department of Homeland Security United
States Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
New York State Police. The Strike Force is
partially funded by the New York/New Jersey
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA),
which is a federally funded crime fighting
initiative. United States Attorney Lynch
also praised the Kings County District Attorney’s
Office for their assistance.
The
government’s case is being prosecuted
by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael
Warren, Carolyn Pokorny, and Pamela Chen.
The
Defendants:
Name:
DOMINGO SALAZAR
Age: 33
Name: NORMA
MENDEZ
Age: 32
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