Two detained in Gulfton gang brothel case
Feds allege fugitives, arrested in Mexico after 2 months on run, played role in sex trafficking
Two additional defendants were detained Monday in an expansive federal indictment involving a gang-connected brothel that allegedly operated for eight years in a southwest Houston apartment complex.
Shackled and handcuffed in an orange jail uniform, Walter Lopez, 26, of Houston, pleaded not guilty to 17 sex traffickingrelated counts and waived his rights to a detention hearing Monday at the federal courthouse in Houston. U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy ordered him to remain in custody until trial, which is set for March but will likely be postponed, a prosecutor said.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the most serious offense.
Lopez — who has been a fugitive since November — is accused of working as a pimp and enforcer for the Southwest Cholos’ brothel that his mother is charged with managing.
Four of Lopez’s brothers are also indicted, and three are being held without bond in the case, along with his mother, Maria Angelica “Patty” Moreno-Reyna, 51. A fourth brother, William Lopez, 27, who is charged with some of the most brutal treatment of sex trafficking victims, remains a fugitive.
Walter Lopez’s lawyer declined to comment on the allegations.
The judge also held a detention hearing Monday for Claudia Soriano Hernandez, 26, of Pasadena, who was arrested along with Lopez by Mexican federal police in the state of Mon- terrey after eluding officials for more than two months.
During that hearing, FBI agent Stacey L. Mamasis testified that federal officials in Louisiana and Oklahoma had been collecting information about Soriano-Hernandez helping transport sex trafficking victims from Houston to casinos and racetracks in those two states to provide services for clients there.
Soriano-Hernandez, a native of Honduras, is indicted in the case for illegally re-entering the United States. The agent said she had been living in Pasadena and working as a prostitute.
Question of victim status
Under cross-examination, defense attorney Pat McCann questioned why the government would prosecute a sex trafficking victim who they believed was under the influence of dangerous sex traffickers.
The agent said the FBI did not consider his client a sex trafficking victim because they believe she herself was sex trafficking minors.
McCann also asked what the logic was of extraditing her so they could prosecute her for re-entry. He asked the judge to allow her to remain at home in Pasadena on house arrest so she can care for her young children.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Goldman said she should be considered a flight risk. Soriano-Hernandez had failed to show up for a prior immigration hearing and then fled the country when she saw news of the federal indictment in this case, he said.
As for her parenting responsibilities, Goldman noted that hadn’t been a concern for Soriano-Hernandez during two-plus months she was on the run from federal authorities.
The judge ordered Soriano Hernandez to be detained until trial.
“I could dream up (detention conditions) but I don’t think she would follow them,” the judge said.
Victims lured by gang
The Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, a collaboration between police and nonprofits, has identified 13 women forced to work at the Cholos brothel in Gulfton, near Bellaire. The gang’s enforcers lured undocumented women into prostitution under the guise that they’d be doing restaurant work and then strong-armed them into staying there, according to court testimony by an FBI agent. The pimps had several women tattooed with their street names to make it clear who was in charge, the agent said.
Twenty-four people have been arrested in connection with the case, which also includes charges involving methamphetamine and heroin sales, gun trafficking and a lucrative immigrant smuggling operation.
“I could dream up (detention conditions for Soriano Hernandez) but I don’t think she would follow them.” U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy