Woman sentenced for trafficking her two sisters

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — The woman who trafficked two sisters and was accused of holding them in debt servitude was sentenced Tuesday to about six months in prison.

Court documents show that Miriam Mackler pleaded guilty to two counts of human trafficking and was sentenced to 180 days in prison, as well as three years of probation. Mackler, however, served 167 days in jail, meaning she will remain behind bars for less than two weeks.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office announced Mackler’s arrest in January following an investigation by its Human Trafficking Task Force. One of the victims, originally from Guatemala, told investigators they had each paid $15,000 to come to the United States. The sister, identified as Victim 2 in the affidavit, had managed to repay her debt and was living on her own at the time she spoke to the sheriff’s office, investigators noted.

Deputies went to Mackler's home where the other sister, identified as Victim 2, said she was afraid to leave because Mackler was threatening to take her 2-year-old son away from her, according to the affidavit.

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In an interview with deputies, Victim 1 explained that she arrived in the United States two years ago while pregnant, from Flamenco Guatemala. She said she knew Mackler from Guatemala because they lived near her mother. She added that she was not aware of the fees or the money owed until she arrived in the United States.

Two men, nicknamed “coyotes,” helped the pregnant victim enter the United States illegally, the statement said. Once there, she gave birth to her son while being held at an immigrant shelter in Texas.

Victim 1 reportedly told investigators that when she arrived in Palm Beach County, Mackler explained that she had pawned her car and borrowed money from someone to smuggle it into the United States. Mackler told her she owed a total of $17,000.

Mackler allegedly told Victim 1 that she would have to work at a food truck owned by Mackler to repay the loan as well as $300 in rent on the 15th of each month.

The arrest report states that Mackler repeatedly threatened to take Victim 1's child away if she did not repay the debt.

Victim 2 recounted a similar experience and told investigators that when she arrived in Palm Beach County in 2021, she was forced to work at the food truck. She claimed she never saw the money she earned because it went toward debt she had incurred.

The arrest report states that Victim 2 was verbally abused, claiming that Mackler called her a “whore” and that if she left the residence, Mackler would deport her.

She eventually left the residence because she had enough of the verbal abuse and paid her debt to Mackler in full, according to the arrest report.

Mackler was initially charged with labor trafficking and contraband.