2 accused Borderland sex traffickers have detention hearings reset

An El Paso man and a woman from Juarez are claimed to have smuggled girls from Juarez then forced them to work as prostitutes in El Paso motels for years, according to a multi-count federal indictment.

Federal agents say Charles Marquez, 51, also known as “El Puerkote,” was working with Martha Jimenez Sanchez to recruit girls from newspaper advertisements in Juarez, promising big money for jobs in El Paso, working as maids but also including “servicios discretos” — discreet services.

Federal agents say that once the girls were selected, they were crossed illegally, put into motel rooms, then forced to prostitute.

Marquez’s son, Aaron Marquez, is a college student living at his family’s central El Paso home.

He says he is shocked and confused by the charges and says there was no indication the man living under the same roof could have spearheaded this sort of criminal activity.

“I never saw anything,” Aaron Marquez told ABC-7. “I’m not going to say it’s not possible, anything’s possible. It’s possible that these accusations are wrong as well.”

The indictment alleges that from August 2007 until February 2012, Marquez placed advertisements in El Diario de Juarez, a daily newspaper circulated in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

In one case, the indictment claims an unnamed minor from Juarez told investigators that in April 2010, she met with Marquez in El Paso after responding to an advertisement soliciting a caretaker.

The indictment states that when the girl met with Marquez, he told her she would be making sex videos for him. Eventually she says she was ordered to work as a prostitute.

The girl claims that in December 2010, she tried to stop working for Marquez, escaping and returning to her home in Juarez.

The indictment alleges that Jimenez Sanchez traveled to the girl’s home in Juarez and told her she was to return to work, and if she did not, she would see “El Puerkote’s” “bad side.”

Both Marquez and Jimenez Sanchez are denied bond.

In court on Wednesday, the judge ordered Marquez to procure an attorney by July 3, and that due to his financial records, he does not qualify to have a court-appointed attorney.

Jiminez Sanchez was taken out of the courtroom prior to her presentation before the judge.

Her defense attorney walked over to the prosecution table and it was overheard in the courtroom that Jimenez Sanchez is willing to talk with federal prosecutors.

Prosecutors say there is both audio and video evidence.

The pair faces 10 years to life in prison if convicted of the sex trafficking charges.

Marquez had prior indictments and convictions more than 10 years ago, for engaging in organized criminal activity and aggravated promotion of prostitution.

This case is part of the national Federal Bureau of Investigation effort Operation Cross Country, targeting teenage sex traffickers across the U.S.

The operation resulted in the arrests of more than 100 so-called pimps and alleged conspirators last week.

Marquez and Jimenez Sanchez were the only arrests made in El Paso in connection with the operation.