Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking a Juvenile
Girl, Two Others Plead Guilty to Commercial Sex Charges

Memphis - David Kustoff, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, My Harrison, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Michael A. Holt, Special Agent-In-Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Larry Godwin, Director of the Memphis Police Department announce today announced that Fernando Reyes-Santillan pled guilty to one count of commercial sex trafficking of a minor. Co-defendants, Diego Cortes-Barrientos and Rafael Cortes-Barrientos each pleaded guilty to one count of failing to file a factual statement about alien individuals they harbored for the purpose of prostitution. Reyes-Santillan could be sentenced to up to forty years in prison. face up to ten years Diego Cortes-Barrientos and Rafael Cortes-Barrientos imprisonment.

With these pleas, eight defendants have pled guilty to sex trafficking and commercial sex charges in connection with brothels operated in Memphis. Four other defendants remain under indictment in the same case for crimes including child sex trafficking, conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, conspiracy to commit money laundering, enticing an individual to travel in interstate commerce to commit prostitution, and failure to file a factual statement about an alien.

At his plea hearing Reyes-Santillan admitted to operating a brothel and knowingly employing a juvenile to engage in prostitution. Diego Cortes-Barrientos and Rafael Cortes-Barrientos admitted to working at brothels in Memphis and taking money from clients who engaged in commercial sex acts with alien prostitutes. Both further admitted that neither they nor any of the other operators of the brothels had filed a factual statement with the Assistant Secretary of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or his successor setting forth the names of the aliens, the place at which they were kept, the date of their entry into United States, their ports of entry, or their ages, nationality, or parentage.

All persons charged with crimes are considered innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Human trafficking prosecutions are a top priority of the Department. In the last six fiscal years, the Civil Rights Division, in conjunction with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, has increased by six-fold the number of human trafficking cases filed in court, quadrupled the number of defendants charged, and tripled the number of defendants convicted. In 2006, the Department obtained a record number of convictions in human trafficking prosecutions.

“This case is a perfect example of the outstanding cooperation between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and state and local law enforcement agencies. Because of such positive interagency cooperation, human trafficking and smuggling criminals are discovering how difficult it is for them to hide their illegal activities from authorities,” said Michael A. Holt, Special Agent-in-Charge of ICE’s Office of Investigations in New Orleans. “We are dedicated to identifying and dismantling these types of illicit operations wherever and whenever we find them.”

Assistant United States Attorney Steve Parker of the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti from the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice are prosecuting the case. The investigation in this matter is being conducted by FBI Agents in Memphis and Nashville, ICE Agents in Memphis and Nashville, the Memphis Police Department, and the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department. World Relief, Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, and the YWCA have assisted the victims and witnesses in this matter.

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