HOUSTON, Texas — A woman residing illegally in the United States pleaded guilty this week before a federal judge to sex trafficking involving the use of force, fraud, or coercion of both adult and minor females. The victims were forced to perform commercial sex acts in a cantina in Houston.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced that Maria Botello-Morales, a 56-year-old woman residing illegally in Houston, appeared before a federal judge and pleaded guilty to several sex trafficking crimes, according to a statement obtained from U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. The crimes included the use of force, fraud, or coercion to induce at least two adult women and a 17-year-old minor female from Mexico to have sex with customers at the Puerto Alegre cantina in Houston.
Botello’s arrest followed a joint investigation by the Houston Police Department, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commissions, and ICE Homeland Security Investigations working together under the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance.
“This case demonstrates the lengths traffickers will go to in order to recruit and abuse victims, even when those victims are barely more than children,” TABC Charman Kevin Lilly said in a written statement. “All of us at TABC are incredibly proud of the work of our agents and partners with the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, and we remain committed to finding and stopping human trafficking no matter where it’s found in Texas.”
Court documents reviewed by Breitbart Texas revealed that the minor female was recruited in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, in 2007 by her cousin who said she was friends with Maria’s daughter. The cousin told her that Maria and her husband, Esteban Toribio would smuggle her into Texas can cover the smuggling fees.
Maria and Esteban picked up the minor female in Texas from the smugglers and transported her to Houston where she would work as a waitress. After about a month, Maria and her husband told the victim (who was 17 years old during the entire period of servitude) she would have to engage in commercial sex acts with customers. This went on for about three months, according to the criminal complaint.
Two other adult women were initially hired as waitresses for the cantina. Both were forced a short time later to have commercial sex with clients in back rooms designed for this purpose. The women said they were threatened with being shot if they did not comply, the complaint states. The adult victims reported seeing a firearm and witnessing violence in the back rooms. They were given a condom wrapped in a paper towel and told to take the customer into the back room and have sex for a fee of $70. The money was taken from the women as they exited the rooms.
Botello-Morales faces a prison sentence of up to life in prison for multiple sex trafficking counts.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.