Cuban Man Pleads Guilty to Labor Trafficking

SAN ANTONIO - An illegal alien from Cuba pleaded guilty in federal court today to labor trafficking after he helped smuggle three Cuban women into the U.S. and forced them to work in strip clubs across the country, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas.

According to court documents, Yoirlan Tome-Rojas, 46, helped bring three adult females from Cuba to the U.S. by paying for their flights, drivers, hotels, and the coyotes who smuggled them across the U.S.-Mexico border. Tome-Rojas charged the women a travel debt up to $50,000 each and forced them to work in strip clubs seven days a week. Throughout the months the women were in his custody, he transported them to Indiana, Detroit, Michigan, and San Antonio for them to work in various clubs.

Tome-Rojas required the women to provide him with all of their earnings and prohibited them from leaving or ending their work until their respective travel debts were paid off. He continually added the cost of food, clothes, shelter, transportation, and more to the women's travel debts.

Two of the women were with Tome-Rojas for approximately three months and, according to Tome-Rojas only paid approximately $1,000 toward their debt. Throughout their victimization, the women feared for their own safety and for the safety of their families in Cuba.

Tome-Rojas pleaded guilty to three counts of labor trafficking. Each count holds a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations and the San Antonio Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alicia McNab and Karina O'Daniel are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

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