Venezuelan Woman Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking and Money Laundering Charges

Yilibeth del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three conspiracy charges of sex trafficking, bringing illegal aliens into the United States for financial gain, and money laundering, court records show. The Venezuelan national faces up to life in prison.

Cnn reported that Rivero-De Caldera entered the United States in 2022 and began the operation from motels in Nashville, Tennessee.

Within one year her two sons, daughter, their partners, and two associates joined the scheme after also entering the country. The group contacted women abroad and offered resources for illegal immigration plus a legitimate job, according to court documents.

Once travel began the family raised the fee by tens of thousands of dollars and required the women to perform commercial sex work while surrendering the proceeds, prosecutors said.

Victims remained under near-constant surveillance with immigration documents often withheld. Some victims stated they believed Rivero-De Caldera and one son were connected to Tren de Aragua. One victim was told she owed an additional $35,000 because she brought her five-year-old daughter and began commercial-sex work to repay the debt, court documents state.

When law enforcement arrested one of Rivero-De Caldera’s sons, the victim’s daughter was found in his hotel room while the victim was in a separate room with a client, prosecutors said. Proceeds from the forced prostitution were used to bring additional victims into the United States. Human trafficking is estimated to be a $32 billion-a-year global industry, the Justice Department says.