Maryland Man Pleads Guilty To Transporting Women For Prostitution Enterprise

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Angel Campos Tellez, aka “Israel Campos Martinez,” “Abel Cruz Bonilla,” and “Abel Campos,” 27, of Maryland, pleaded guilty today to helping lead a commercial sex enterprise that prostituted at least 100 different women throughout Virginia and nearby states.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, II; and John P. Torres, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Washington, D.C., made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Claude M. Hilton.

Campos Tellez, a citizen and national of Mexico who is illegally present in the United States, pleaded guilty to transporting individuals to engage in prostitution, which carries a maximum of five years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for June 21, 2013.

            According to a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Campos Tellez was a leader of a commercial sex enterprise that operated between 2009 and July 2012. His organization brought more than 100 women, most of whom were foreign nationals, from New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., to engage in commercial sex in Manassas, Woodbridge, Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Newport News in Virginia, as well as in Baltimore, Md., and in Delaware.

            Campos Tellez admitted that he coordinated different drivers to transport the women; collected the prostitution proceeds; advertised for the enterprise by handing out business cards at Spanish restaurants, check cashing stores, construction sites and day laborer sites; and obtained lodging for members of the enterprise.

            This case was investigated by ICE HSI, with assistance from the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force. Virginia Assistant Attorney General and Special Assistant United States Attorney Marc J. Birnbaum and Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Frank are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Founded in 2004, the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force is a collaboration of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies – along with nongovernmental organizations – dedicated to combating human trafficking and related crimes.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.