Nine Venezuelan nationals have pleaded guilty for their roles in what federal prosecutors described as a family-run sex trafficking ring that lured vulnerable women to the U.S. with promises of jobs before forcing them into prostitution in the Nashville area.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that members of the organization recruited women in Venezuela, arranged for them to be smuggled into the U.S. and then transported them to Nashville. Once there, prosecutors said the victims were told they owed inflated smuggling debts that could only be repaid through commercial sex acts.
According to court documents, women who refused were threatened with violence against themselves and relatives still living in Venezuela.
Prosecutors said the traffickers also took a share of the women's earnings while collecting on the debts.
Authorities identified Yilibeth Carmen Rivero-de Caldera and her son, Kleiver Daniel Mota Rivero, as the leaders of the operation, claiming they enlisted relatives and associates to help run the scheme.
Investigators said Rivero, Mota and co-defendant Ramon De Jesus Velasquez Martinez used firearms and threats of violence to intimidate victims. Prosecutors also alleged Mota claimed ties to a Venezuelan prison gang and spoke openly about a prior homicide prison sentence in Venezuela to keep victims from resisting or leaving.
"Human smuggling and trafficking operations represent a dangerous convergence of exploitation and lawlessness," Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva wrote in a statement. "These perpetrators profited off human suffering while chipping away at the integrity of our border. These convictions show that protecting vulnerable individuals and securing our border are not competing goals."
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Eight defendants pleaded guilty to charges carrying maximum penalties of life in prison, while a ninth defendant faces up to 20 years behind bars.
Sentencing is scheduled for the week of Nov. 16.
The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations alongside the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and other federal, state and local agencies.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Homeland Security Investigations and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for additional information.