Men face federal sex trafficking counts

By GIL BRADY
Star-Tribune correspondent

Update 5:30 p.m.

JACKSON — A federal grand jury has indicted three men suspected in a human smuggling and child prostitution scheme here.

As a result of that federal prosecution, state prosecutors have dropped charges of kidnapping, child prostitution, aggravated blackmail via death threats, illegal alien-labor trafficking and conspiracy of multiple sexual assaults against three.

Appearing Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge James K. Lubing of Jackson, according to a press release were:

Jose Luis Chavez, 42, a local restaurateur whom prosecutors say was the ringleader; Jacobo Dominguez, 32, an Idaho carpenter; and Braulio Anceto Velez, described as a 21-year-old college student.

Armando Salas, 26 or 27, a fourth man named in the indictment, is considered a federal felony fugitive. A warrant for Salas’ capture has been issued, a U.S. marshal said Tuesday. Jackson Detective Cpl. Roger Schultz said last week that he did not know if Salas should be considered armed or dangerous. Schultz did say he believed Salas worked in the construction trade.

Chavez, Vazquez, Velez, and Salas were indicted under federal law for “Sex Trafficking a Child” and “Aiding and Abetting the Sex Trafficking of a Child.” After notifying the men of their rights, Lubing read the statutes aloud in court:

“It is illegal to recruit, entice, obtain, provide, move, or harbor a person,” the judge said. “Or to benefit from such activities knowing that the person will be cause to engage in commercial sex acts” where the person is a minor “or where force, fraud, or coercion exists.”

Regarding the “Commercial Sex Act” statute, Lubing said “any sexual act” for which “something of value is given or received.”

According to a U.S. Justice Department Web site, commercial sex acts can include “actual threats of harm,” or a “scheme intended to cause the victim to believe harm would result,” elements of which mirrored now dismissed local charges previously filed by county prosecutors here.

Deputy county prosecutor Brian Hultman had charged Chavez with aggravated blackmail, among 19 other now dismissed felonies. Jackson police have alleged that Chavez was the “Jackson-Phoenix” connection to an international ring of human-traffickers out of Mexico.

A now dismissed county amended complaint alleged that Chavez “in the course” of committing blackmail “caused bodily injury to the victim” and threatened to harm two persons close to the victim/witness.

Federal control of the four men’s cases appeared to have pleased county prosecutors here.

“Our jurisdiction terminates at the state line,” Teton County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Weichman said Tuesday. “And the international contours of this case [raises] the need for expanded jurisdiction.”

Weichman also reaffirmed his praise for police cracking the ring earlier this month.

A fourth man, not named in the federal indictment, but orginally arrested and charged with the other three earlier this month, was reportedly still in the county jail on $100,000 bond.

What makes the federal charges against the four men particularly severe, Lubing explained Tuesday, is that federal law allows maximum penalties of life in prison for exploiting victims under 14 years old, plus $250,000 in fines, or both, for each charge.

One now 15-year-old victim/witness, mentioned in the federal charges, was only 13 at the time of the alleged crimes between Jan. and Dec. 2004.

During a court appearance last week, Hultman accused members of Chavez’s family of issuing threats, both personally and telephonically, against the state’s key witness—a teenage Mexican girl.

Regarding the welfare and whereabouts of another teenage victim/witness mentioned in police affidavits, Jackson Detective Sgt. Todd Smith said Monday that he believed she was still alive, because he had no information to suggest otherwise.

According to the press release, the investigation into other possible victims and suspects continues and will be handled by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, The Jackson Police Department, and The Teton County Sheriff’s Office. All of which sounded just perfect to Smith.

“Local law enforcement and…prosecutors…,” Smith said, “see that it’s more important to have larger charges associated with the case…be prosecuted federally rather than [at a] state level.”

During arguments in court Tuesday about whether the men’s next scheduled detention hearing should be here or in Cheyenne, tensions flared when an immigration official stood up and said the discussion was “moot,” because he had orders to detain them for deportation hearings.

“That’s just not going to happen,” Asst. U.S. Attorney Lisa Leschuck said via telephone, emphasizing the government’s desire to try the men in federal court.

Attorneys and family members were unavailable for comment. And none of the three men spoke about the charges against them. According to the press release, a federal indictment is only an "accusation." Prosecutors must still prove the charges against the men to be true "beyond a reasonable doubt."

No trial date has been set. However, Lubing did say that the men should next appear within 72 hours and instructed a U.S. marshal and FBI agent to take the three immediately to Cheyenne.