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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?
What happened
Gloria Eugenia Leon-Aldana was a part of an alien smuggling operation recruiting aliens from Mexico, smuggling aliens into the United States to San Diego, and forcing labor through a series of threats including calls to Border Patrol. Her co-defendants Andres-Santos and Alonso-Terrero also threatened with physical harm to the victims and their families. Her husband, Mario Antonio Antunez Sotelo is wanted on forced-labor charges in addition to bringing in and harboring aliens for financial gain. He was arrested in December with his wife, and two others. The others are in custody, but Antunez, who was released after his arrest, is now believed to be on the run, possibly hiding in Tijuana or in the Acapulco area. Among other things, Antunez and his wife are accused of holding at least 10 immigrants in two San Diego homes. Federal agents searching one of those properties found a small bedroom crammed with six beds, and living quarters for others carved into a crawl space beneath the home with mattresses on a dirt floor. Aliens held in those homes were repeatedly threatened and the couple took their identity documents to keep them from fleeing. They were also forced to pay rent, which kept them under debt bondage. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which learned of the case through the local Mexican consulate, is working with the Mexican government in the search. Immigration and Customs spokeswoman Lauren Mack said some victims were held as long as eight months.
Response and intervention
United States v. Gloria Eugenia Leon-Aldana “On January 17, 2008 Gloria Eugenia Leon-Aldana plead guilty in San Diego, CA to charges including bringing in aliens for financial gain (3 counts) and forced labor (1 count). In the previous week, co-defendants Juan Andres-Santos and Agustin Alonso-Terrero pleaded guilty to bringing in aliens for financial gain. Andres-Santos was sentenced to time served (13 months) and three years of supervised release with Alonso-Terrero’s sentencing pending. Co-defendant ALONSO TERRERO is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Lorenz on April 1, 2008. LEON-ALDANA is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Lorenz on April 7, 2008. Defendant ANTUNEZ-SOTELO remains at large, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. He has been charged with threatening the aliens and their families with physical harm and brandishing a shotgun at one of the residences. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement learned of the case through the local Mexican consulate. The victims are now working and safely continuing with their lives thanks to the local NGOs in San Diego. The case is still open, so each person I talked to said that they could not share any information regarding the victims and limited information about the case.