A Baltimore federal grand jury indicted an illegal alien on July 29 on heinous charges of targeting more than 25 victims for prostitution and sex trafficking purposes, including a 16-year-old girl. Authorities say the illegal alien recruited drug addicts online, and offered free drugs such as heroin, crack cocaine and Xanax in exchange for sex services for himself and clients.
The indictment alleges that Feliciano (Alex) de Jesus Diaz-Martinez, a 41-year-old Guatemalan national residing in a Baltimore suburb, "forced or coerced his victims...to take part in numerous sex acts over a three-year period beginning in May 2016."
The charges indicate that nearly all the victims had some sort of drug abuse problem. According to The Patch, "Diaz-Martinez also directed the victims working for him to recruit their friends, many of whom were also addicted to narcotics."
Likewise, Diaz-Martinez had a large network of associates who would also pay these individuals for sex. The online outlet notes that he "sent his customers pictures of the victims before transporting them to customer homes or to hotel rooms to engage in sex acts with the customer." Or, he paid for a hotel room or an unused storage unit for the crimes to take place.
The Patch notes that "Diaz-Martinez is charged with sex trafficking of a child; enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; and distribution of a controlled substance."
If he is convicted, he "faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and for enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution. He also faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years and up to life in prison for each of four counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, and a maximum of 20 years in prison for distribution of controlled substances."
Like much of the nation, illegal immigration continues to be a problem in Maryland. Earlier this year, Gov. Larry Hogan criticized leftist advocates for taking stances which enable illegal aliens to reside in the country and profit from sex trafficking.
Democrats in the state legislature went so far as to introduce a bill declaring Maryland to be a "Sanctuary State," meaning that all local law enforcement would not comply with federal immigration policy in order to protect what they claim are non-violent, non-threatening individuals. Baltimore is currently a "Sanctuary city" and Montgomery County and Prince George's County have also adopted the stance.
The added problem of unlawful foreign nationals is particularly a problem because, as pointed out by The Frederick Newspost, "The Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force reports that victims of human sex trafficking and the dealers themselves have told law enforcement that Maryland is a 'gold mine' for human trafficking."
The indictment also comes as President Donald J. Trump highlighted numerous problems with Rep. Elijah Cummings' congressional district, which includes portions of Baltimore County. While the suspect is not from Rep. Cummings' district, it is likely many of his victims and potential future victims were.