A member of the MS-13 gang has been indicted on accusations of trafficking girls for sex in the D.C. area. The 21-year-old Fairfax resident is accused of running a prostitution business and transporting girls he knew were juveniles to have sex with male clients.
A federal grand jury in Alexandria indicted 21-year-old Alonso Bruno Cornejo Ormeno on charges of sex trafficking of children and transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
The indictment alleges that he trafficked the girls between February 2008 and October 2010.
Cornejo Ormeno would rent hotel rooms for the girls to meet with clients and would also drive the girls to his clients’ homes, according to court documents.
The documents say he set up about six to seven appointments a day, earning $400 to $500 a day on weekdays and $800 to $900 a day during weekends.
Other admitted MS-13 members — including at least one other who engaged in sex trafficking — told federal investigators that Cornejo Ormeno had “an extensive list” of prostitution clients in Alexandria, Fairfax, Woodbridge and Maryland, court records say, and his “prepaid phone rang constantly with clients calling for prostitution appointments.” Cornejo Ormeno allegedly admitted to his MS-13 associates that he knew the girls he was trafficking were juveniles.
Court records say Cornejo Ormeno would tell clients a girl was young, and advertise her as a “high school girl” and “fresh out of the box.” He would also give the girls alcohol and drugs, and encourage them to finish appointments faster to “move onto the next client more quickly.”
Cornejo Ormeno is in custody pending a June 3 arraignment. His attorney, Travis Tull, declined to comment on the case.
MS-13 members in Northern Virginia have been associated with prostitution activities in the past.
Another gang member, Alexander Rivas, was charged in February with running a prostitution ring using girls who had run away from their homes.
In July 2009, three MS-13 members fatally shot a pimp in Alexandria who refused to be extorted by the gang. The MS-13 members demanded that Claros Luna pay “rent” for running his prostitution business on their turf, court records say. Those gang members, Eris Ramon Arguera, Adolfo Amaya Portillo and Alcides Umana have all pleaded guilty to their roles in the slaying.
