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Press Release

Defendant Extradited to the United States from Mexico to Face Sex Trafficking Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

Jose Miguel Melendez-Rojas was extradited to the United States yesterday, and is scheduled to be arraigned today before United States Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn on an 18-count indictment charging him with sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking of minors, interstate prostitution, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy.  Melendez-Rojas was arrested in February 2019 in Mexico following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, Mexico City and New York Offices, and the Mexican Federal Police.  Melendez-Rojas is charged with five co-defendants: two were extradited from Mexico to the United States in October 2018, and three were previously arrested in the United States. 

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York, announced the extradition and charges.  

“With this extradition, the defendant Jose Miguel Melendez-Rojas will be held accountable in a United States court for sex trafficking women and girls and related crimes,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue.  “The Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law those who profit from forcing vulnerable victims into sexual servitude.”

 “Melendez-Rojas was flown thousands of miles to face charges for his role in trafficking and victimizing young women purely for profit.  It’s alleged that he, with others in this ‘family business,’ used intimidation and abuse to force their victims to participate in sexual acts against their will,” stated HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Fitzhugh.  “The safety and well-being of the victim comes first and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners in ensuring these criminal organizations cease to victimize for revenue.”

As alleged in the second superseding indictment and other court filings, between 2006 and July 2017, Melendez-Rojas, and his co-defendant relatives, smuggled young women and girls from Mexico into the United States, where they were forced to work as prostitutes in New York City and elsewhere.  The defendants conspired to launder the proceeds of their sex-trafficking and prostitution activities to conceal the illicit nature of the proceeds.

The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  If convicted of the sex-trafficking-related charges, each defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ and a maximum of life imprisonment.

Mr. Donoghue commended HSI New York’s Trafficking in Persons Unit for leading the investigation, and thanked the HSI Mexico City Attaché Office, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the State Department, Interpol and the New York City Police Department for their assistance.  He also extended his grateful appreciation to the government of Mexico for its role in advancing bilateral anti-trafficking enforcement efforts, and acknowledged the non-governmental victim service providers and advocates for their dedicated efforts to restore and improve the lives of survivors of trafficking and their families.

The investigation, prosecution, bilateral enforcement action and extradition of the defendants apprehended in Mexico were coordinated through the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative.  Since 2009, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have collaborated with Mexican law enforcement counterparts in the bilateral initiative 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 have 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, in addition to numerous Mexican federal and state prosecutions of associated sex traffickers.  The extraditions in this case are the latest development in the Eastern District of New York’s comprehensive anti-trafficking program, which has to date indicted more than 80 defendants for sex trafficking; assisted more than 150 victims, including over 40 minors; reunited 19 victims’ children with their mothers; and secured restitution orders of over $4 million on behalf of trafficking victims.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Erin E. Argo and Monica K. Castro are in charge of the prosecution.

The New Defendant:

JOSE MIGUEL MELENDEZ-ROJAS
Age:  45
Mexico

Defendants Previously Arrested:

FRANCISCO MELENDEZ-PEREZ (also known as “Paco” and “el Mojarra”)
Age:  25
Queens, New York    

FABIAN REYES-ROJAS
Age:  39
Queens, New York

ABEL ROMERO-MELENDEZ (also known as “La Borrega” and “Borrego”)
Age:  33
Queens, New York

JOSE OSVALDO MELENDEZ-ROJAS
Age:  45
Mexico

ROSALIO MELENDEZ-ROJAS (also known as “Leonel, “Wacho” and “El Guacho”)
Age:  37
Mexico

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-434 (ARR)

Contact

John Marzulli
United States Attorney’s Office
(718) 254-6323

Updated August 15, 2019

Topics
Civil Rights
Human Trafficking
Human Smuggling