Trial set for July for three accused of sex trafficking migrant women to Louisiana for sex work

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Two men and a woman accused of sex trafficking have a federal trial date set for July 22-24. The Venezuelan nationals are believed to have links to the Tren de Aragua (TDA) gang.

Josmar Zambrano-Chirinos, 23, Osleidy Diaz, 26, and Allbert Machado, 23, are accused of working together to force two women into prostitution from February to April 26, 2024. They allegedly moved a woman from El Paso, Texas to Baton Rouge around April 18. They also allegedly helped hide undocumented migrants for personal gain.

Zambrano is charged with one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and two counts of concealing and harboring aliens for personal gain.

Diaz is charged with one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and two counts of concealing and harboring aliens for personal gain.

Machado is charged with one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and three counts of concealing and harboring aliens for personal gain.

Diaz and Zambrano-Chirinos are in federal custody.

All three have pleaded not guilty and will be tried together. The next court date is a pre-trial conference on July 10.

Investigators uncover international sex trafficking ring

According to the initial criminal complaint, agents with the U.S. Border Patrol Sector Intelligence Unit spoke with a woman (Victim 1) in March in Texas who said she was being controlled by Zambrano. He allegedly made her pay the debt for smuggling her into the United States for sex work.

Interviews led federal investigators to believe he had locations to funnel and hide women in “Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, New Jersey and Florida.” Victim 1 reportedly stated that she believed up to 30 women were circulating between the TDA trafficking sites.

She told investigators she was going to be sent to Baton Rouge and ultimately thought she would be transferred to New Jersey.

Homeland Security Investigations agents in Baton Rouge said they could recover her. She allegedly told investigators that if she left, TDA would harm or kill her children. Instead, she offered to provide investigators with information about the organization.

Victim 1 was instructed to stay in touch throughout her stay in Baton Rouge, and responders were ready if she shared her location or failed to check in within 48 hours.

She was transferred with another woman on April 18.

On April 26, a Spanish-speaking woman called 911. She said she was being held at the address where investigators knew the victims were located. She told dispatchers she was forced to have sex with strangers for money.

East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office deputies found Victim 1, another woman (Victim 2), and Machado in the apartment. During a search, “piles of money, condoms and lubricant” were discovered, according to the criminal complaint.

Victim 1 said she was forced to pay a $30,000 debt to bring her to this country, and the other said she was brought here by TDA.

Additional searches found several phones with customer messages and logs that appeared to track how much money each woman made and her remaining balance.

The women said Machado arranged to find clients and made it appear as if there was only one woman at a time.

Machado, after being advised of his Miranda rights, allegedly told investigators that a friend offered him a job booking clients and setting schedules. He said he came to Louisiana the week before starting his job and only saw two women in the apartment.

According to Machado, he sent the women to the store to deposit their winnings, and each received three or four visits a day.

He reportedly said he knew he was in trouble and it was serious, but he was trying to save money.

In a later interview, Victim 1 said Zambrano was tracking their movements around the house via a nanny cam and threatened to kill them. They had to be ready to accommodate customers 24/7, and could only sleep between 4 and 8 a.m. if there were no customers.

There were rules about how to handle money and how much to charge.

She said he gave her all his profits for the first week, then started keeping 85% of it to pay off the debt. He also charged $50 per day for lodging.

Victim 1 told investigators that TDA killed his mother on April 29 or 30. She said Zambrano, through his family, said, “Don’t talk. Don't mess with me. I'm a killer.

She said she had been referred to as his daughter or his property by TDA members.

Victim 2 told investigators that the phone number they used to collect payment from Zelle belonged to Diaz and they had to block his name from being seen with their hands.

She said Diaz and Zambrano picked her up at the Baton Rouge airport, and Zambrano said Diaz was his girlfriend.

Diaz's card was used to pay for victim 1's travel expenses.

The trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. July 22 before U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles.

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