A 46-year-old Cuban man was sentenced to 17 years and six months in federal prison in Texas for forcing three women, also Cuban, to work in adult entertainment clubs to pay off immigration debts of up to $50,000 that he had imposed on them.
The convicted individual, identified as Yoirlan Tome-Rojas, had financed the transportation of three women from Cuba to the United States, but once on U.S. territory, he subjected them to a system of labor exploitation that prevented them from leaving their jobs or accessing their earnings.
According to a report on Monday, October 19, by the U.S. Department of Justice, Tome-Rojas paid for flights, hotels, drivers, and smugglers who facilitated the irregular crossing of the women across the border with Mexico.
According to court documents, the convicted individual imposed debts of up to $50,000 on the women and forced them to work seven days a week in adult entertainment clubs, while pocketing their earnings.
For several months, the man transported the victims between establishments in Indiana, Michigan, and San Antonio, Texas.
The exploitation mechanism involved continuously increasing debts with charges for food, clothing, housing, and transportation, which further complicated their ability to free themselves from control.
Two of the women remained under his control for approximately three months, and according to Tome-Rojas himself, during that period they had only managed to pay off around 1,000 dollars of the debt.
The victims feared for their lives and the safety of their family members who remained in Cuba, according to court documents.
The newspaper San Antonio Express-News had revealed that the women reported death threats and that the case began to be investigated after the San Antonio Police received an alert in March 2024.
Tome-Rojas pleaded guilty on June 3, 2026 to three charges of human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation.
Federal Judge Xavier Rodríguez sentenced him to 210 months in prison for each of the three charges, to be served concurrently, resulting in an effective sentence of 17 and a half years.
The federal prosecutor for the Western District of Texas, Justin R. Simmons, described the case as "modern slavery" and warned that these forms of exploitation are more common than many Americans realize.
The investigation was carried out by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the San Antonio Police Department.
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