Ismael Antonio Mendez, Sex Trafficking, Virginia 2015

Virginia Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Sex Trafficking a 15-Year-Old Girl

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Ismael Antonio Mendez, 20, of Annandale, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release for sex trafficking of a minor.

Mendez pleaded guilty on December 29, 2015, to recruiting a 15-year-old girl to engage in commercial sex acts to pay off a debt that Mendez owed to one of his co-conspirators.

According to court documents, Mendez and his co-conspirators taught the girl how to prostitute, took photos of her to use in ads, and created commercial sex ads that were posted on the Internet.

The adults also instructed the girl to lie about her age to customers and traveled with her throughout Virginia, New York, and every state in between for the purposes of advertising and engaging her in commercial sex.

During the three-month period, the defendants prostituted the girl every day, with an average of 10 to 12 customers a night until she earned enough to repay Mendez’s debt, at which point she was directed to leave the co-conspirators.

Mendez was ordered to register as a sex offender upon release from prison. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney Dougherty Russell and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Britsch.

The investigation was led by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Fairfax County Police Department.

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