Four from Lexington Indicted for Enticing Women to Travel to Kentucky for Prostitution

LEXINGTON—Four individuals living in Lexington, Kentucky were indicted today for recruiting and enticing women from other states to come to Kentucky so they could solicit them for prostitution.

A Lexington grand jury returned the indictment charging Marco Antonio Flores-Benitez, 38; Roxana Serna-Olea, 36; Adrian Lezama-Ruiz, 26; and Roberto Salinas-Rivera, 35, with persuading, inducing, and enticing an individual to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution.

According to the indictment, from September 2009 through January 2011, the defendants managed a business that offered prostitution delivery services in Louisville and Lexington and operated a brothel at Cross Keys drive in Lexington.

As part of the conspiracy, the defendants allegedly recruited Spanish-speaking women from North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Maryland to become prostitutes. Customers allegedly paid the defendants $30 for 15 minutes of sexual activity and the women were expected by the defendants to engage in sexual intercourse with multiple customers per day. The defendants delivered the prostitutes to customers in Fayette, Woodford, Oldham, and Jefferson Counties in Kentucky.

The indictment alleges that the defendants advertised services in Spanish-speaking publications using code words for prostitution.

It’s also alleged that in October 2011, Salinas-Rivera drove one of the females to Keenland Race Track to offer prostitution services.

All the defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to persuade, induce, and entice an individual to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution and four counts of persuading, inducing, and enticing an individual to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution. Flores-Benitez is charged with one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking; and five counts of transporting an individual in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. Flores-Benitez and Salinas-Rivera are also charged with illegal re-entry into the United States by a previously deported alien. Serna-Olea and Lezama-Ruiz are also charged with being an alien who entered the United States at a time and place other than as designated by immigration officers and who eluded examination or inspection by immigration officers. All four defendants were charged with their immigration offenses last month.

Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Mike Kaste, acting special agent in charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; John R. Korkin, supervisory deportation officer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Detention and Removal Operations; and Ronnie J. Bastin, chief, Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Division of Police, jointly made the announcement today after a federal grand jury in Lexington returned the indictment.

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Division of Police. The Indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant United States Attorneys Hydee R. Hawkins and David A. Marye.

A date for the defendants to appear in federal court has not yet been set. If convicted of sex trafficking, Flores-Benitez faces a prison sentence of not less than 15 years and up to life imprisonment. If convicted of the offenses with which they are charged, Serna-Olea, Lezama-Ruiz, and Salinas-Rivera face a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of sentences.

The indictment of a person by a grand jury is an accusation only, and that person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.