Huntsville, AL – On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith sentenced Manuel Enrique Zelaya-Rodriguez, 32, to 15 years and eight months in federal prison for multiple sex trafficking charges.
In September 2010, a jury convicted Zelaya-Rodriguez of the trafficking of an under-age girl for sex, coercing a minor to engage in prostitution as well as two immigration offenses.
U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance said: “This defendant exploited the desperate situation of a child who he knew was in the country illegally and put her to work for him as a prostitute…Within two weeks, Zelaya-Rodriguez collected money from 40 to 50 men who paid to have sex with the child. This is human trafficking and it is a morally reprehensible crime. The message with today’s sentence is that the Department of Justice and my office will not tolerate crimes of human trafficking.”
Upon completion of his sentence, Zelaya-Rodriguez should be deported back to Mexico.
Click here to read the entire U.S. Attorney’s report on this case: http://www.fbi.gov/birmingham/press-releases/2010/bh092210.htm
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