Bragg Indicts 15 in Alleged Venezuelan Sex-Trafficking Ring

The dark side of love for sale was recently exposed when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr., Homeland Security Investigations New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel, and NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch announced the indictment of 15 members of an alleged sex-trafficking ring that coerced women to engage in prostitution by paying for their travel from Venezuela to the US, and then forcing them to pay off that “debt.”

The word “debt” above is expressed in quotation marks by the DA to indicate its spurious nature. A Straus News review of the complete 100-page indictment confirms the suspects’ obsession with money, and the lengths certain members of the ring would go to ensure that the women they employed paid—and continued paying—this erstwhile “debt.”

The prostitution scheme itself appears to have been both simple and complex. In some cases, photos of women in lingerie were uploaded to local escort sites with certain defendants’ phone numbers used as contacts. In other cases, women were shuttled to brothels in New York City, Connecticut, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Maryland, Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas, among other locales.

The immigration status of the defendants is unclear, but there is evidence the trafficking ring has some relation to the concurrent migrant crisis. In one exchange between alleged ring members, a man is told to deliver a Venezuelan ID card to “Floyd Bennett Field 3159 Flatbush Ave Brooklyn NY 11234 Brooklyn”—the address of a temporary migrant shelter erected at the former Naval Air Station turned national park.

“Monetary control, including predatory cycles of debt, is a common element of coercion used by sex traffickers,” said DA Bragg. “As alleged, this wide-ranging operation recruited women who were seeking to come to the United States from Venezuela and demanded repayment through prostitution.”

On or about Feb. 20, 2024, for example, a woman identified as Individual 29 messaged one of the defendants, Jamer Sepulveda Salazar, in substance “If I allow you to have sex with me, will my debt go down?” to which Salazar responded, in substance, “Respect me. . . . You debt is high...and I do not have sex with my workers.”

It’s believed the phrase “in substance” indicates text messages translated from Spanish, though a DA spokesperson couldn’t confirm how many text messages in the indictment were translations.

In any event, on or about the following day, Salazar again messaged Individual 29 in substance “stop complaining, idiot. They are going to send you back to Venezuela to starve if you keep complaining. You can pay the debt you owe me from Venezuela and continue talking shit.”

Special Agent Patel said: “Today’s announcement exposes the appalling cruelty and calculated exploitation allegedly inflicted by the defendants, who are accused of preying upon vulnerable women and children by luring them to the United States under false pretenses and trapping them in a relentless, shameless, and inhumane cycle of debt and abuse.”

“I gave you everything you needed 15 days I paid for your food I paid everything outside pay rent everything,” suspect Salazar messaged Individual 31 on or about April 15, 2023. “That is not my fault you have to pay me, or do you want me to be an asshole with you and you want me to take everything you do weekly let me know if you want me to act the way I worked in Peru and Chile I’m flexible with you because you are my friend I consider you as my sister don’t come up with weird things because I’m very sensitive when it comes to money.”

Said NYPD Commissioner Tisch: “In this case, traffickers allegedly dehumanized women by luring them into our city, sexually exploiting them for profit, and controlling them with threats of violence. Today’s indictment is the next step toward justice.”

As alleged in court documents and statements made on the record, beginning in July 2023, members of the ring paid for more than a dozen women to travel from Venezuela and neighboring countries to the United States, lending them money for plane tickets and hotels.

Once the women arrived in New York City, they were expected to engage in prostitution and hand over the proceeds to pay down the loans. These erstwhile “loans” continued to grow with interest, and other charges, including payments for online sex ads, car services, phone bills, and brothel fees.

As alleged, the victims were pressured to deliver payments each week and were denied requests to take time off because they were sick or needed to care for their children. The conspirators kept copies of the women’s identification and passports and strictly monitored and controlled their behavior.

On multiple occasions, defendants threatened to publicly release intimate photos used in the advertisements if payments were not made on time. Several defendants also used threats of violence to both the women and their family members.

The indictment charges co-conspirators with several different roles in the organization, including:

Jamer Sepulveda Salazar, 23, and Jhoner Jose Bermudes Chirino, 24, allegedly arranged for the women to travel from Venezuela and neighboring countries to the US, and demanded they work in prostitution to pay back the “debt” once they arrived.

Salazar is being held without bail, and his next scheduled court date is March 10, 2026.

Robinson Romero Vergel, 34, allegedly funded the operation, providing upfront cash and receiving the women’s payments collected by co-conspirators—and laundered funds through various shell companies.

Marlene Castillo, 24, allegedly orchestrated the prostitution encounters, and Manuel Cotiz Castro, 29, allegedly drove the women and collected money afterward.

What Price Freedom?

On or about Jan. 24, 2024, Jhonder Bermudes messaged in substance to Jamer Sepulveda “take note 20 from [name redacted] condoms . . . ads . . . lubricant.”

On or about Jan. 27, 2024 Jamer Sepulveda messaged Jhonder Bermudes in substance “break Individual 5 arm.”

On or about Aug. 11, 2024, Jhonder Bermudes sent Individual 1 a WhatsApp message stating “You and Individual 2 have only made me lose money. I should’ve left you both in Venezuela eating arepa.”

On or about March 14, 2025, Marlene Castillo sent Individual 21 a WhatsApp message stating, “Did they pay you 250 ? baby,” to which Individual 21 replied, “No baby 150.” Later in the exchange Individual 21 sent Castillo a sexually suggestive image, to which Castillo replied, “Today we are making about 2,000 thousand in the name of God.”