MS-13 Associate Sentenced to 292 Months for Sex Trafficking Teenage Runaway Girls

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Alonso Bruno Cornejo Ormeno, a/k/a “Casper,” 22, of Fairfax, Va., was sentenced to 292 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for sex trafficking runaway females as part of his juvenile prostitution business that serviced clients throughout northern Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C., and Maryland. This is one of five gang-related juvenile sex trafficking cases brought within the past year.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Liam O’Grady.

“Gang members prey on vulnerable young runaway girls and drag them into the horrific world of juvenile prostitution,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “Sex trafficking is an unconscionable crime that reduces young women to indentured sex slaves and may subject them to a lifetime of traumatic memories.”

“Trafficking in humans, especially for underage prostitution, is a despicable offense,” said Assistant Director in Charge McJunkin. “Preying on our children will not be tolerated and these cases represent a concerted effort by the FBI and law enforcement to stop juvenile prostitution and human trafficking in Northern Virginia.”

According to court documents, Cornejo Ormeno, a Peruvian born U.S. citizen, is a close associate of MS-13 who targeted multiple teenage girls who had run away from home and recruited them to work in his juvenile prostitution business. The girls, whose ages ranged from 15 to 17, were in need of shelter and a way to support themselves, and Cornejo Ormeno preyed upon these vulnerabilities and promised them money and narcotics by prostituting themselves to earn what they needed to stay on the run.

Cornejo Ormeno managed all aspects of his prostitution ring: He recruited the young, vulnerable girls to serve as prostitutes, obtained clients, scheduled the prostitution appointments, collected the money that was paid for sexual intercourse, transported the juvenile females to the prostitution appointments, and instructed the juveniles how to engage in sexual intercourse with the paying customers. Cornejo Ormeno prostituted each of the juveniles on numerous occasions, including providing them to members of MS-13 for sexual intercourse free of charge.

In addition to Cornejo Ormeno, four other gang-related sex trafficking cases have been brought this past year, including the following:

• U.S. v. Jose Ciro Juarez Santamaria, an MS-13 member, was sentenced to life in prison on Oct. 28, 2011, for prostituting a 12-year-old female runaway. Juarez-Santamaria met the child runaway at a Halloween party in 2009, and the victim asked for his help in finding a place to stay. Instead, the very next day, Juarez-Santamaria began prostituting the victim throughout the metro-D.C. area.

• U.S. v. Alexander Rivas, an MS-13 member, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Aug. 17, 2011, for recruiting juvenile runaways to serve as prostitutes. On a given Friday or Saturday night, he would have approximately 100 clients lined up for his prostitution service. The majority of the prostitution activity took place throughout Northern Virginia, including in Woodbridge, Fairfax, and Alexandria.

• U.S. v. Rances Ulices Amaya, an MS-13 member, was arrested on Oct. 25, 2011, for assisting another MS-13 member in running a juvenile prostitution business. He recruited clients and provided security at the appointments, which included carrying a machete. Amaya is accused of threatening the juveniles—who were runaways—and physically assaulted them if they did not want to have sex with the clients. He also had sex with the juveniles for free, sometimes with more than one on the same day.

• U.S. v. Ramiro Espinoza Jamaica, a SUR-13 member, was charged on Oct. 4, 2011, for taking in a runaway juvenile girl and offering her to Hispanic men for $100 for 15 minutes of sex. He remains in custody in Prince William County on drug charges.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Fairfax County Gang Unit and the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Zachary Terwilliger and Rebeca H. Bellows prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

Founded in 2004, the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force is a collaboration of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies—along with nongovernmental organizations—dedicated to combating human trafficking and related crimes.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.