219 Arrests Made In Polk County Joint Human Trafficking Sting

POLK COUNTY, FL — During a seven-day undercover human trafficking operation, which began on Tuesday, Sept. 19, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Vice Unit arrested 219 suspects.

"The border crisis is in every state in the union," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a news conference Thursday. "We are seeing more numbers in every operation."

During this investigation, 21 possible human trafficking victims were identified of the 119 prostitutes who were arrested during the operation and people were charged with 44 felonies and 242 misdemeanors with the help of detectives from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Auburndale, Bartow, Davenport, Lakeland, Lake Hamilton, Lake Wales, Winter Haven and Zephyrhills police departments.

10th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Brian Haas, members from the Florida Department of Children and Families and detectives screened those who traveled to provide prostitution services to determine if they were being trafficked or exploited by others.

Those being exploited were offered services by social service organizations One More Child, Heartland for Children, My Name My Voice, Selah Freedom and the Children’s Home Society Child Advocacy Center.

Two people were charged with human trafficking, a life felony:

Freddy Escalona, 29, of Chicago, Illinois, was charged with felony human trafficking and deriving proceeds from prostitution. According to Judd, Escalona loaned a victim money to fix her car and made her prostitute herself to pay back the money. He drove the victim to an undercover location and was taken into custody. He told detectives that he had “several females that he worked” who paid him to transport them and “keep them safe.”

Maria Guzman, 36, of Orlando was charged with felony human trafficking and deriving proceeds. Guzman trafficked two women from a hotel in Orlando, setting up their “dates” and profiting from the money they made, Judd said.

Additionally, 83 people were arrested for soliciting a prostitute and traveling to an undercover location to negotiate having sex in exchange for money. Seventeen more people were arrested, five of which either derived proceeds from prostitution or aided and abetted prostitutes and eight of which drove the prostitutes to the undercover location.

“Not only did we arrest more suspects during this single operation than we have ever arrested before, we identified 21 human trafficking victims," Judd said. "During a similar operation in February, we identified 24 victims. That’s 45 victims we were able to identify this year. The valuable relationships that we have with the social services organizations who join us in these operations make it possible for these women to get help and be emancipated from this way of life.”

Of those arrested:

• 35 are suspected of being in the country illegally and three of those were identified as victims of human trafficking. They hailed from Cuba, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, and the Bahamas.
• 41 suspects told detectives they are married.
• 13 suspects told detectives they receive government assistance.
• 42 suspects brought illegal drugs to the location. Detectives seized fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
• Two of the suspects brought firearms to the undercover location.
• 18 were from other states: Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
• The oldest person arrested was 76-year-old Frank Bydairk while the youngest was 18-year-old Latrice Vilsaint.
• Among those arrested for soliciting a prostitute was a Polk County School athletic director and coach.