MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO TRANSPORTING WOMAN ACROSS STATE LINES FOR PROSTITUTION
BIRMINGHAM - A Nicaraguan man pleaded guilty today in federal court to transporting a woman from Georgia to Alabama for prostitution, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Resident Agent in Charge Jesse Blakeman announced.
DONALD CASTILBLANCO-HERNANDEZ, 27, also known as Otilio Orosco Treminio and as Manuel, pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of an individual for prostitution before U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon. CASTILBLANCO admitted that he had traveled to Atlanta in January to pick up a woman and return her to Northport so that she could work for him as a prostitute.
According to CASTILBLANCO’s plea agreement, ICE agents entered the Northport residence with a search warrant on Jan. 15 and found the victim and a man who said he paid money to have sex with her. Agents soon after stopped CASTILBLANCO nearing the house, which he told them was where he resided.
“Using people as products for sale is a despicable business, and taking someone across a state line for the purpose of prostitution is a federal crime,” Vance said. “Local and federal law enforcement in Alabama are actively working together to prevent and prosecute illegal prostitution, sex trafficking and human trafficking, in any form,” she said.
“This case is a perfect example of the outstanding cooperation between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and state and local law enforcement agencies,” said Raymond R. Parmer Jr., special agent-in-charge of ICE’s Office of Investigations in New Orleans. “Because of such positive interagency cooperation, human trafficking and smuggling criminals are discovering how difficult it is for them to hide their illegal activities from authorities. We are dedicated to identifying and dismantling these types of illicit operations wherever and whenever we find them,” Parmer said.
The maximum prison sentence for transporting an individual across state lines for prostitution is 10 years.
ICE is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Fortune is prosecuting it.
