Luis Bonilla-Hernandez, an illegal migrant from El Salvador, was sentenced to two years of prison on Friday for running a criminal sex operation in the heart of Washington DC.
He was buying women for three hundred dollars from a supplier, most of whom spoke no English and who catered mostly to Hispanic men for 30 dollars per sexual encounter. The women were vulnerable and found themselves in a tough spot. He was able to operate for three years before the law caught up with him.
He has been sentenced to two years in prison.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said:
“Bonilla-Hernandez profited from the sexual exploitation of women who found themselves in difficult and vulnerable places. The tears, pain, and mental anguish expressed by the victims in this case is heartbreaking. Additionally, this case is yet another example of an individual who is here in the United States illegally and committing serious crimes.”
Law enforcement first arrested Bonilla-Hernandez in July 2018 after a law enforcement investigation revealed him to be leading a prostitution ring outside of his home in northern Virginia.
For the past three years, the 33-year-old Salvadorian national would pay $300 to a supplier in New York to obtain new women each week and drive them to customers throughout northern Virginia. The women, picked up at the same bus station in Washington, D.C., each week, spoke little to no English, and were specifically catered to Hispanic clients.
Bonilla-Hernandez advertised their services on cards for automotive services, promising a sexual encounter for $30. The victims would be driven to customers’ homes Monday through Saturday, and then swapped out when a new woman arrived at the Greyhound bus station on Sunday.