Guatemalan National Sentenced to Prison for Labor Trafficking a 12 Year-Old Boy

On January 10, 2020, a Guatemalan national was sentenced in the Southern District of Florida to eight years in prison for labor trafficking a minor.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Walfre Eliseo Camposeco-Montejo, 35, of Guatemala, previously pled guilty to providing and obtaining forced labor, alien smuggling, and unlawfully transporting aliens.  On Friday, U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman sentenced Camposeco-Montejo to a total of 96 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.  Judge Altman also ordered Camposeco-Montejo to pay $34,000 in restitution to the minor-victim.   

According to court records, Camposeco-Montejo obtained false Guatemalan documents to claim a 12-year-old Guatemalan boy as his son.  Camposeco-Montejo promised the boy’s mother he would provide the minor with an education upon their arrival into the United States.  Camposeco-Montego and the minor illegally entered the United States, crossing the Rio Grande in November 2016.  Upon their arrest by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, when crossing the border, Camposeco-Montejo lied about being the boy’s father.  Based upon Camposeco-Montejo’s false representations, he and the boy were released as a family unit and subsequently made their way to Florida.  Beginning in December 2016, Camposeco-Montejo obtained false identification for the 12 year-old boy and forced him to work at agricultural farms throughout Palm Beach County for more than 6 months to repay a debt from the human smuggling venture.  The boy was eventually able to escape and reported his victimization during the course of the labor trafficking scheme.

U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan commended the investigation efforts of ICE-HSI and the partnership with the Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Task Force.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller.

If you believe you are a victim of labor trafficking or know someone who is, you are encouraged to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, or visit https://humantraffickinghotline.org/ for help and victim resources.  The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.