Annapolis Brothel Operator Gets 35 Years On Sex Trafficking, Weapons Charges

An Annapolis brothel operator was sentenced to 35 years in prison this week.

U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. also sentenced German de Jesus Ventura, 35, who was living in the U.S. illegally, to five years of supervised probation on nearly a half-dozen prostitution, human trafficking and weapons charges.

Since 2008, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division had been investigating Ventura’s brothel organization, which operated in Annapolis, Easton, Washington, D.C., Virginia and New York. Five people were arrested for federal violations and 14 were arrested for state violations.

“This sentencing sends a message that HSI and other law enforcement members of the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force are committed to working together to investigate human trafficking and combating the violence that sex trafficking organizations are bringing to our communities,” said William Winter, special agent in charge of HSI Baltimore.

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