Operator of L.A. Brothel Is Sentenced
A Mexican national who recruited women and girls as young as 14 to work in her South Los Angeles brothel in exchange for smuggling them into the United States was sentenced Monday to 4 1/2 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess said Maria de Jesus Valle-Maldonado, 27, used abusive and coercive measures to keep the girls working until they paid off their debts.
Valle-Maldonado pleaded guilty in July to one count of conspiracy, two counts of importing illegal immigrants to work as prostitutes and three counts of bringing illegal immigrants into the country.
At her plea hearing, Valle-Maldonado admitted arranging for the girls and women to be smuggled into the United States and requiring them to work off the costs by serving as prostitutes, usually for five or six months.
At least a dozen undocumented immigrants were found working at her East 84th Place brothel when it was raided by agents from the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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