A man told a woman in Texas that he loved her and was going to marry her and then forced her into prostitution. This week he was sentenced to forty years in prison for trafficking of persons for prostitution.
According to a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas, Fort Bend County Assistant District Attorney Robert Clopton said that 45-year-old Raymond Mark Gonzales met his victim in late 2012. After he moved in with her, Gonzales’ family also began spending a lot of time at the woman’s apartment. She was evicted because she could not pay the rising electric bill and because there were so many people in her apartment.
After she was evicted, Gonzales and his family drove the woman to an apartment in Houston, and later to a hotel in Rosenberg, Texas. While they were at the hotel, Gonzales began forcing the woman to prostitute herself. He would beat her when she refused. She was afraid to call the police or to seek help because Gonzales said he would burn down her house and kill her family.
In February 2014, a neighbor called 9-1-1 when she saw the victim being assaulted outside of the hotel room. The Rosenberg Police Department investigated Gonzales and found that he had been forcing the victim into prostitution.
“Raymond Gonzales thought he had the perfect victim, someone no one would listen to or believe,” said lead prosecutor Clopton. “But the men and women of Fort Bend County heard this victim’s plea for justice and saw that justice was done.”
This week Gonzales was tried before Fort Bend County Judge Brady Elliott for human trafficking. The offense is a felony of the second degree punishable by two to twenty years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The defendant is not eligible for probation because he has a prior felony. This prior conviction also enhanced the punishment range to a first degree felony punishable from five to 99 years or life in prison.
Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as an associate judge and prosecutor in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2
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