Honduran Man Sentenced to 24 Months for Transporting Women Across State Lines to Engage in Prostitution

KNOXVILLE, TN—Selvin Salvador Perdomo, 37, of Knoxville, Tenn., was sentenced today to 24 months in federal prison by the Honorable Thomas W. Phillips, U.S. District Judge. Perdomo pleaded guilty to transporting an individual across state lines to engage in prostitution on August 27, 2010. Perdomo, a Honduran national who was in the United States legally on a visa, agreed to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security during removal proceedings after he completes the service of his sentence in the United States.

During 2010, FBI agents surveilled Perdomo for months as he routinely transported different women from the greater Atlanta metropolitan area to Knoxville, Tenn., for the purpose of engaging those females in prostitution. Once a week, Perdomo would pick up a woman in the Atlanta area, typically an illegal alien of Hispanic descent, and bring her back to Knoxville. In Knoxville, Perdomo would drive the female to various residences in the area to engage her in prostitution. He charged individuals $30 for 15 minutes with the female. Perdomo kept half of the proceeds the female earned from performing sex acts. The female typically worked seven nights a week. Then Perdomo would take her back to the Atlanta area, pick up a different female, and drive the new female to Knoxville to engage in commercial sex.

U.S. Attorney Bill Killian said, “The cooperative efforts of the various local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies resulted in the conviction, sentence, and subsequent deportation of this criminal. He, like others, took advantage of these women, due to their immigration status. The United States will vigorously prosecute these human trafficking cases.”

This conviction is the result of a collaborative effort by the FBI, the Knoxville Police Department, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and the Safe Streets Task Force, Loudon County Sheriff’s Office, Maryville Police Department, Blount County Sheriff’s Office, the Fifth Judicial Drug Task Force, and the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa M. Kirby represented the United States.