Pimping suspect waives arraignment

The man accused of tricking young women from Juarez into prostitution in El Paso appeared before a federal magistrate judge Tuesday morning.

Charles Escamilla Marquez, who is referred to in federal documents as “El Puerkote” and “El Gordo,” waived his detention hearing, but Judge Richard Mesa requested to speak with Marquez about his right to retain an attorney.

Marquez was appointed an attorney by the court shortly after he was arrested in late June and charged with sex trafficking of children. According to documents obtained by ABC-7, Marquez, with help from Martha Jimenez-Sanchez, found girls from Juarez by putting ads in the newspaper.

Federal agents stated the two placed classified ads in El Diario de Juarez, looking to pay “big money” for “chicas guapas” who could do domestic work, in addition to “servicios discretos” — discreet services.

The indictment states that Marquez would take the girls from Juarez, put them into El Paso motel rooms, then force them to make video tapes and prostitute.
If they tried to leave, the indictment states Jimenez-Sanchez would find them in Juarez, and force them back to the motel room in El Paso.

Jimenez-Sanchez, a Mexican citizen, is also facing sex trafficking charges.

Tuesday, Mesa told Marquez he is requiring him to pay $2,500 for attorney fees to the government for his court-appointed lawyer. Mesa cited the monthly incomes from Marquez’s roofing and construction business and his wife’s job as totaling $2,700, not including an unspecified outside source of income of $5,500 that Marquez receives.

Marquez remains jailed without bond.