Eight Venezuelan nationals, two of which are connected to the violent Tren de Aragua gang, were indicted Tuesday on charges relating to a human trafficking operation being run out of Nashville, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee announced.
U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire (pictured above), during a news conference on Tuesday, said the indictment alleges that all eight of the defendants “conspired to transport women from South America into the United States and compelled those women to engage in prostitution.”
McGuire said the defendants lured women to Middle Tennessee from South America with the “false promises of a better life” and, once the victims arrived, “bullied, intimidated, and threatened” the victims to “have sex with total strangers for illegal profits.”
“Once [the victims] were effectively cut off from friends and family, they were told that they had skyrocketing debts – debts that no person could ever pay – and they were told that the only way to avoid those debts was to have sex with strangers for money,” McGuire said.
McGuire further said two of the defendants “used their affiliation with the notorious Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua… to intimidate the victims into continuing to commit commercial sex acts.”
The following defendants were charged in Tuesday’s indictment:
- Yilibeth Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera (A.K.A. ‘Yibi’): Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate Transportation for Purposes of Prostitution, Conspiracy to Commit Interstate and Foreign Travel or Transportation in Aid of Racketeering Enterprises, Sex Trafficking Conspiracy.
- Kleiver Daniel Mota Rivero (A.K.A. ‘Kleiber’): Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate Transportation for Purposes of Prostitution, Conspiracy to Commit Interstate and Foreign Travel or Transportation in Aid of Racketeering Enterprises, Sex Trafficking Conspiracy, and Possession of a Firearm by an Illegal Alien.
- Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca (A.K.A. ‘La Gorda’): Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate Transportation for Purposes of Prostitution, Conspiracy to Commit Interstate and Foreign Travel or Transportation in Aid of Racketeering Enterprises and Sex Trafficking Conspiracy.
- Wilmarys Del Valle Manzano Solorzano (A.K.A. ‘La China’): Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate Transportation for Purposes of Prostitution and with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate and Foreign Travel or Transportation in Aid of Racketeering Enterprises.
- Endrik Alexander Morales-Rivero (A.K.A. ‘Endri’): Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate Transportation for Purposes of Prostitution and with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate and Foreign Travel or Transportation in Aid of Racketeering Enterprises.
- Ariannys Beatriz Gutierrez-Carrillo (A.K.A. ‘Nani, Nany’): Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate Transportation for Purposes of Prostitution and with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate and Foreign Travel or Transportation in Aid of Racketeering Enterprises.
- Frankyanna Del Valle Romero-Rivero (A.K.A. ‘Franya’): Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate Transportation for Purposes of Prostitution and with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate and Foreign Travel or Transportation in Aid of Racketeering Enterprises.
- Jesus Enrique Castillo Rodriguez (A.K.A. ‘Chu Chu’): Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate Transportation for Purposes of Prostitution and with Conspiracy to Commit Interstate and Foreign Travel or Transportation in Aid of Racketeering Enterprises.
All eight defendants are in federal custody awaiting prosecution, McGuire confirmed.
Tuesday’s indictment comes weeks after The Tennessee Star reported that five other Venezuelan men were arrested as part of a separate human trafficking investigation into a suspected brothel at a property in Antioch.
Watch Tuesday’s news conference:
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
