A woman, over 60, from Venezuela, has accepted a three-year prison sentence in Spain for recruiting women in vulnerable situations in Colombia and convincing them to travel to the European country, where they were exploited as prostitutes.
The magistrate of the provincial court of Segovia (center), Ignacio Pando, advanced the pronouncement of the sentence on Tuesday after the prosecution and the two defenses – his own and another defendant – were satisfied with the agreement reached.
The defendant admitted the facts and her responsibility as an accomplice to a crime of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation, for which she was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
She also admitted to threatening one of the captured women, for which she was sentenced to an additional six months in prison, in addition to a fine for acting against the rights of foreign citizens.
The other defendant, also Venezuelan, accepted his participation in the events and the sentence of two and a half years in prison as an accomplice to a crime of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation and the fine for a crime against human rights of foreign citizens.
Each of them must also pay 3,000 euros in compensation to one of the victims, who testified as a protected witness in the investigation into the trial.
Both were serving a provisional prison sentence in Colombia since they were detained there in June 2021 by an international order, issued by a court in Segovia, until their transfer to Spain on March 4; now both are in prison.
Initially, the prosecution had requested nineteen years in prison for her and fifteen for him.
According to the prosecutor, and as the defendants admitted this Tuesday, until September 2018, both convinced women in Colombia by deception or taking advantage of their social or economic vulnerability, preparing them to enter Spain illegally and paying their trips.
Later, three other people received the victims in Spain and took them to a brothel in a town in Segovia, where they practiced prostitution to pay the alleged debt they had incurred for the trip.
The victims, who had no residence or work permit, were subjected to strict control.