Two Virginia men are charged in an alleged prostitution ring in which authorities say women were driven to clients’ doors and replaced with new women weekly.
Luis Bonilla-Hernandez, 32, ran the operation out of his Sterling home, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said.
He denied involvement Tuesday.
“I haven’t done anything,” he said. “You need to show what you’re saying. Where’s the proof? Prove it, prove it. You need to prove it.”
Bonilla-Hernandez would pay $300 to essentially rent a woman, usually one at a time, from a supplier in Queens, New York, according to court documents.
He allegedly advertised the prostitutes on a card for automotive services that included the word "treinteras," promising a sex act for $30. The women were driven to the clients’ homes Monday through Saturday, then the women would be swapped on Sunday, when a new woman would arrive at a Greyhound bus station.
The sheriff’s office received a tip about suspected prostitution in August. Court documents detail an afternoon when the FBI watched Bonilla-Hernandez drive a woman to a neighborhood and drop her off at four homes. The average visit lasted about 10 minutes.
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The sheriff’s office said it identified multiple women used in the operation and has video surveillance, phone records and GPS tracking data from one of the vehicles.
A northern Virginia organization devoted to fighting human trafficking said shuttling the women in and out of unfamiliar cities makes it more difficult for them to break free.
“She walks out the front door, she doesn't even know where she is. She’s in a neighborhood. Where is the closest public transportation? Where is the closest police station? Where’s the closest phone?” said Anna Hansen of NOVA HTI. “It's a cycle, a vicious cycle going back and forth.”
Also arrested was 22-year-old Eliazar Duran-Mota of Herndon, who is accused of being a driver in the operation.
Both men are charged with two felony counts of receiving money from earnings of a female prostitute and two misdemeanor counts of using vehicles to promote prostitution. Each was released on $7,500 bond.
