Four Queens-Based Sex Traffickers Sentenced to Between 25 and 35 Years in Custody

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Blanca Hernandez Morales was sentenced to 35 years in prison by United States District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall for sex trafficking minors using force, fraud, and coercion, among other crimes. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge DeArcy Hall ordered Hernandez Morales to pay restitution of $179,300. Hernandez Morales was the final of four co-defendants who went to trial in October 2023 on various charges, including sex trafficking, to be sentenced. Her co-defendants and family members Roberto Cesar Cid Dominguez, Luz Cardona, and Jose Facundo Zarate Morales were each previously sentenced to 375 months, 325 months, and 300 months, respectively.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Michael Alfonso, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI New York) announced the sentences.

"Today's sentence holds the defendants accountable for their decade-long exploitation of young women and minors and is a reckoning for the perpetrators of these deplorable crimes," stated United States Attorney Joseph Nocella. "It is our hope that these extensive prison sentences bring some measure of comfort to the victims in this case."

Mr. Nocella also expressed his appreciation to the New York City Police Department and the Putnam County Sherriff's Office for their work on the case.

"This family orchestrated an international sex trafficking operation to route vulnerable victims, including minors, from Mexico into the United States to commit sexual acts. For more than a decade, these defendants lured young girls across the border with the enticement of the American dream before ensnaring them into a life of sexual servitude. May today's lengthy prison sentences highlight the FBI's intolerance of those who seek to profit from the sexual abuse and exploitation of others," stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle.

"This sentencing brings a conclusive end to the yearslong, unimaginable exploitation and abuse of young women and minors. No person should ever be exposed to the dehumanizing atrocities these victims suffered at the hands of their own common-law and blood relatives. HSI New York will never forget the strength of those who bravely came forward and we owe the successful resolution of this case to their courage and willingness to speak out," stated HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Alfonso.

As proven at trial, since approximately 2002, the defendants, all of whom are related by blood or common-law marriage, participated in a sex-trafficking organization (the Cid-Hernandez Sex Trafficking Organization) that used force, threats of force, fraud, and coercion to cause young women and minor girls from Mexico to engage in prostitution in the United States. Members of the organization pressured the victims, including two minor victims, to travel to the United States with false promises of employment and a better life. When the young girls arrived in New York, they were forced by the defendants to work in prostitution.

During the trial, one victim testified that she was 15 years-old and living in Mexico in 2007 when Cardona, her aunt, offered to pay travel expenses to New York City where the teen could work as a cleaner. The victim did not know that Cardona, along with her partner Zarate Morales, his mother Hernandez Morales, and her partner Cid Dominguez, were operating a prostitution business. After the victim arrived in Queens, Cardona and Zarate Morales brokered a deal with a client to sell the victim's virginity. Thereafter the teenage victim was forced to engage in commercial sex with 20 or more men daily.

Although the Cid-Hernandez Sex Trafficking Organization was based in Queens, young women and minor girls were transported to prostitution clients throughout New York State and Connecticut. The organization controlled "routes," which were comprised of contact lists of potential clients in specific areas and employed individuals who served as drivers.

Cid Dominguez also bribed Village of Brewster Police Officer Wayne Peiffer with free sexual services to ensure the organization's protection from law enforcement in his jurisdiction. Peiffer pleaded guilty in April 2022 to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act extortion and was sentenced to 36 months in custody.

The government's case is being handled by the Office's Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel A. Bennek and Nicholas Moscow are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendants

LUZ ELVIRA CARDONA (also known as "Lucy")
Age: 37
Queens, New York

ROBERTO CESAR CID DOMINGUEZ
Age: 62
Queens, New York

BLANCA HERNANDEZ MORALES (also known as "Nancy," "Maria Elena," and "Malena")
Age: 55
Queens, New York

JOSE FACUNDO ZARATE MORALES (also known as "El Guero")
Age: 37
Queens, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 21-CR-622 (LDH)