Annapolis Man Sentenced to 19 Years, Probation for Sex Trafficking

In Baltimore Thursday, a federal judge sentenced an Annapolis resident to more than 19 years in prison, followed by supervised release in a sex trafficking case.

District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. sentenced Kevin Garcia Fuertes, 26, a Honduras native who also lived in Richmond, VA, to 235 months in prison for conspiring to transport and entice females to travel across state lines for prostitution and sex trafficking by force and fraud, according to a release.

Quarles also ruled that Fuertes, an illegal immigrant, must cooperate with immigration officials for deportation following his sentence, according to the release.

“[Thursday's] sentencing represents another successful HSI investigation worked jointly with our local law enforcement partners that led to the breakup of a prostitution scheme uncovered in Maryland,” Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore Special Agent in Charge William Winter said in the release. “The defendants not only exploited women for personal profit, they also used violence, coercion and intimidation.”

Prosecutors said during his two-week trial that between March 2008 and November 2011, Fuertes and co-defendant German de Jesus Ventura ran brothels in Annapolis and Easton. Fuertes was hired to advertise and manage the brothels, and many of the prostitutes were illegal immigrants, according to the release. Prosecutors said Fuertes knew and financially benefitted from Ventura transporting prostitutes in Maryland and to other states, according to the release.

Ventura, a Capitol Heights resident, faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 1. Three others, Annapolis resident Jose Antonio Reyes-Maradiga and Easton residents Isidro Jimenez-Sanchez and Wilbert Alejandro Herrera Aranda, pleaded guilty. All three were sentenced to prison time and deported, according to prosecutors.

The investigation into the brothels began with Annapolis police, according to prosecutors.