Trafficker treated his victims as ‘human slaves’
Mario Roca Morales sentenced to eight years and six months in prison
Mario Roca Morales controlled his victims, kept them in squalid conditions and used threats and coercion “to have them basically work as human slaves,” an Ontario Court Justice said while sentencing the 51year-old in court Tuesday.
Following a joint position taken by the Crown and defence, Justice Stephen Brown sentenced Roca Morales to eight years and six months in prison, after which he is likely to be deported to Guatemala.
Earlier this month he pleaded guilty to three counts of human trafficking. However, the court heard details about six victims from Mexico who lived under his control in Hamilton and were exploited to work at various job sites, including construction, recycling, landscaping, cleaning and other industries for his financial benefit.
During the brief sentencing hearing in Hamilton on Tuesday, Roca Morales criticized the court, called victims criminals and swore before being told to stop speaking.
After being invited to speak before sentencing — an opportunity granted to all offenders — Roca Morales asked the judge if he knew what he was doing. “I don’t think so,” Roca Morales said.
Addressing two of his victims, who were sitting in the body of the court, he asked the judge to ask “the beautiful ladies” to take off their masks.
“Ask them did their pastor know what they are doing?” he said. “Wow.”
He asked why the court was protecting them. “They are criminals,” he said. “That’s your job, that’s OK.”
He was told to stop talking, before Brown calmly said Roca Morales has already pleaded guilty. The only mitigating factor in the case was the guilty plea, which spared the court time and the victims from being called to testify. The victims, who cannot be identified because of a publication ban, declined to provide victim impact statements.
Jim Cruess, of the provincial human trafficking prosecution team, told the court human trafficking cases involving multiple victims have a sentence range of seven to eight years on the low end up to 23 years at the high end.
Defence lawyer Jason Alsbergas asked the court to consider the guilty plea as a sign of remorse.
Adding up the appropriate sentence for each human trafficking conviction the sentence comes to 14 years, however, it was reduced to eight years and six months based on the principle of totality that calls for an overall sentence to be proportionate.
Brown also ordered a DNA sample be collected, a weapons ban for life and Roca Morales is prohibited from contacting any of the victims.
Roca Morales was among six charged following a two-year investigation by the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency where in 2021 they said 80 foreign nationals from Mexico were found to be working illegally in the Niagara and Hamilton areas.
According to the synopsis in Roca Morales’ case, he had six victims living at two addresses where he exploited them for work and controlled them through threats. The victims complained he was frequently drunk and some experienced sexual harassment and assault.
In all the cases Roca Morales charged the victims rent and other fees and had them work to pay him back, but they saw little money in return and at times did not have enough food. Two of the victims were sisters who arrived in April 2018 and were forced to live in a one-bedroom apartment at 100 Forest Ave. with Roca Morales, where they slept on a mat in the living room. The apartment was infested with bugs and cockroaches.
Several other victims were found when police executed a search warrant at 189 Picton St. in September 2019. One woman was sexually assaulted, and another was told she could repay debt by sleeping with him. Another victim told police Roca Morales asked him to help launder money.
Of the five others charged in the case, two had charges stayed, one pleaded guilty to an offence under the Immigration and Refugee Projection Act last year and two others remain before the courts.