OAN Staff Blake Wolf
9:41 AM – Thursday, July 17, 2025
A Mexican sex trafficker has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being caught running a violent prostitution ring across the United States for nearly a decade.
Last Thursday, Hugo Hernandez-Velazquez pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking after years of running a sex trafficking organization that employed “force, fraud, and coercion to cause young women in Mexico to engage in prostitution in the United States.”
According to a press release by the Department of Justice (DOJ), Hernandez-Velazquez’s operation was aided by his siblings, Ernesto, Giovanni, and Arcelia Hernandez-Velazquez.
“Members of the family organization lured victims into romantic relationships through false promises of love and support. The victims were pressured to travel to the United States with promises of a better life with their trafficker. Once smuggled into the United States, the victims were forced to engage in prostitution,” the release read.
The family crime organization trafficked women in New York, Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
“The defendant subjected his victims to physical beatings, forced abortions, and threats. The defendant also threatened violence to the victims’ families to force the victims to continue prostituting on his behalf,” the release continued.
The Hernandez-Velazquez sex trafficking ring was established in 2001 and continued through 2009.
Hugo Hernandez-Velazquez was extradited from Mexico to the United States in February 2021, and will be deported following the completion of his sentence.
“For nearly a decade, the defendant and his family oversaw a vicious sex trafficking campaign wrought with violence, manipulation, coercion, and outright force against women whom they lured into romantic relationships through false promises of love and support,” stated Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel.
“Every day, victims are targeted for human trafficking and other vile forms of exploitation and abuse, often at the hands of their own spouses or purported caretakers. Today’s sentencing is no doubt a direct result of the bravery of each survivor who courageously spoke up. Together with our partners, HSI is unflinchingly committed to investigating and vigorously pursuing anyone, anywhere, who sexually exploits the very individuals they claim to care for,” he added.
A U.S. District Court previously sentenced Hernandez-Velazquez’s siblings, who also pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges.
Ernesto and Giovanni Hernandez-Velazquez were sentenced to 210 months in prison, and Arcelia Hernandez-Velazquez, who pleaded guilty to a Mann Act violation, was sentenced to time served after around 60 months in U.S. incarceration.
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