Accused Pimp Gets Life in Sex Trafficking Case
A man convicted of acting as a pimp for women forced into prostitution was sentenced to life in federal prison Wednesday for his role in what prosecutors called a sex trafficking ring that traded women like slaves between Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas.
Joaquin Mendez-Hernandez, a Mexican national who operated out of Savannah, was a key figure among 25 defendants indicted in the case last year. A U.S. District Court judge sentenced him five months after he pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring with others to engage in sex trafficking.
Prosecutors said Mendez-Hernandez and his partners would bring women into the U.S. from Mexico and other countries and force them to have sex with 30 or more men each day for $25 apiece. They built a network that largely catered to Latino immigrants, meaning prostitutes were rotated not just between larger cities such as Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., but also in small farm communities such as Bonaire, Ga.