2 Montgomery residents among 9 charged in human trafficking conspiracy

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Two Montgomery residents are among nine suspects arrested and charged in connection to a human trafficking conspiracy, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed.

Ermerson Corvera, 30, and Jose Juan Ruiz Prudenencio, 40, were among the suspects indicted in the interstate human trafficking case. The others are from Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi.

U.S. DOJ prosecutors in Florida said in a 32-count indictment that all nine suspects are actually in the United States illegally. They're accused of conspiring to transport, harbor, and market female aliens for prostitution in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Investigators say the money made off the women were then wire transferred outside the United States.

In addition to the conspiracy charges, the suspects are also facing 13 counts of enticing individuals to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, four counts of money laundering, seven counts of transporting individuals in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, six counts of harboring an alien for the purpose of prostitution, and illegal entry by a deported alien.

Federal agents executed a total of four search warrants in Pensacola, Santa Rosa Beach, and Panama City, Florida; and one search warrant each in Montgomery, Alabama and Laurel, Mississippi.

The probe by the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and Homeland Security Investigations spanned 15 months and is a follow-up prosecution to a previous kidnapping case out of Panama City.

A trial date has been set for January 4, 2016.

The other suspects include:

• Edegardo Osorno Rodriguez, 37, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida;
• Antonio Flores-Esparza, 31, Pensacola, Florida;
• Jose Alvaro Trujillo-Santiz, 45, Panama City Beach, Florida;
• Rosa Mirtha Cruz Vidal, 34, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida;
• Mauro Gonzalez-Lira, 24, McComb, Mississippi;
• Romon Tobon, 45, Starkville, Mississippi;
• Lazaro Juarez-Juarez, 33, Atlanta, Georgia; and