3 men from Mexico plead guilty to sex trafficking a 13-year-old girl

Defendants face up to life in federal prison

Three Mexican nationals, all residents of Jackson, Wyo., face the possibility of life in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to sex trafficking a 13-year-old girl.

The guilty pleas were jointly announced yesterday by U.S. Attorney Matthew H. Mead, District of Wyoming; Michael Masto, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Investigations in Denver, Colo.; and Acting Resident Agent in Charge Norm Scott of the FBI in Jackson.

Jacobo Dominguez Vazquez, 33; Jose Luis Chavez, 42; and Braulio Aniceto Velez, 21; all Mexican nationals, entered their guilty pleas before U.S. District Court Judge Clarence A. Brimmer, in Cheyenne, Wyo. Dominguez Vazquez is a permanent resident of the United States; the other two men reside in the country illegally.

The investigation determined that the girl was smuggled into the United States from Mexico specifically for prostitution. She was transported to Jackson, Wyo., through Phoenix, Ariz., in March 2004. The alien smugglers told her that she would be having sex with men for money. When the girl objected, she was told that having sex was how she had to pay her smuggling fee. The men solicited prostitution business for the girl in Jackson. They obtained a cell phone specifically to take calls from customers wanting to pay for sex with the girl. All three defendants took money from the customers, which they later split. None of the money was given to the girl.