CONCORD — Three Massachusetts men were sentenced Thursday to federal prison for operating a prostitution ring involving a Salem teen, with a fourth man scheduled for sentencing next week.
Federal prosecutors said Thursday that Hansel German, 25, of Boston, Mass., and Andy Pena, 21, of Jamaica Plain, Mass., were each sentenced to eight years in federal prison for their involvement in the trafficking of a minor for prostitution. Enoc Ayuso of Dorchester, Mass., was sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in the prostitution ring.
A fourth man, Rafael Reyes, is scheduled to be sentenced next week in the U.S. District Court in Concord.
In February of 2014, Homeland Security Investigations in Manchester and Salem police, with the assistance of Boston police, rescued the girl, who was engaging in prostitution in a room at the La Quinta Inn and Suites in Salem.
Boston police had forwarded a missing person flyer featuring the girl so authorities could identify her and told them she was believed to be at the Salem hotel.
According to court documents, five men participated in prostituting the underage girl, advertising her as available for sex on backpage.com under the “Female Escorts” section. The narrative to the posting indicated sexual services were being offered in exchange for money.
Special Agent Ronald Morin of Homeland Security pretended to be a customer and set up an appointment with the girl. When he and other law enforcement officers arrived at the hotel room door, they heard a commotion inside, announced they were police and tried to open the door with a key hotel employees had provided. At first, Morin couldn’t open the door because the security latch was in place, but then the girl opened it, according to officials. Inside the room were two men identified as Andy Pena and Steven Garcia, according to documents.
Morin interviewed the girl multiple times over the ensuing months. She told him that in mid-November 2013 she ran away from home and after staying first with a relative and Ayuso, she began living at the home of Ayuso’s friend, Hansel German, in the greater Boston area.
In mid-January 2014, Ayuso and German introduced her to Pena. Ayuso, she said, told her she was going to be taken to a hotel in Walpole, Mass., to have her nails done.
After, Ayuso drove to German’s apartment, where he picked up a gun that he gave to Pena, the documents state. Then Ayuso drove her and Pena to an Econolodge Hotel in Walpole, Mass., where a room was rented. An advertisement was posted on backpage.com containing sexually suggestive photos of the girl and, at Pena’s direction, she began having sex with men who paid for her services, she told authorities.
From mid-January 2014 until her rescue, the girl regularly was prostituted at various hotels in Massachusetts. On Saturdays, a man named Rafael Reyes supervised her prostitution, according to the documents. He would also drive her to “out calls,” scheduled appointments at a location chosen by the customer.
Every three days, the group met at German’s home to split the money, according to the documents.
In late January 2014, Ayuso and German confronted the girl and Pena about the lack of money being made. The girl proposed they try to advertise her services in new markets on backpage.com in Maine and New Hampshire.
They did, and she was driven to a Howard Johnson Hotel in Portland, Maine, where she again engaged in prostitution over the course of several days, records show.
On Feb. 2, Reyes picked up the girl and Pena at German’s residence and drove them to the Salem hotel. For the next two to three days, the girl, at Pena’s direction, engaged in prostitution, the documents state.
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