Slave Ring’s Deaf ‘Enforcer’ Pleads Guilty
A deaf Mexican admitted Friday that he was an “enforcer” for the group that smuggled other deaf Mexicans into the United States, where they were forced to sell trinkets and turn over their earnings.
Ivan Gomez Sanchez, 23, pleaded guilty to the most serious charge in a multi-count indictment before Brooklyn Federal Magistrate Roanne Mann.
The count included charges that he helped smuggle other Mexicans into the country, held them against their will and used threats and violence to keep them on the streets and in the subways, selling $1 items such as key chains.
He was expected to receive a five-year prison term at his sentencing Feb. 13.
Using three interpreters fluent in Spanish and sign language, Sanchez admitted that he helped keep the other 60 Mexicans in New York. The ring was exposed in July when two of the trinket sellers walked into a police station with their stories.
He admitted that when some of them tried to escape, he chased them down. Gomez is the eighth of a group of 20 ringleaders to enter a guilty plea in the case.
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