Two Venezuelan nationals who were in the United States illegally have been sentenced to a combined 32 and a half years in federal prison after being convicted in a child sex trafficking case in Texas.
Giannys Alexandra Ramirez-Fernandez and Nelson Adrian Perez-Martinez were sentenced in the Western District of Texas after a jury found them guilty on charges tied to the trafficking and transportation of a child for illegal sexual activity.
Ramirez-Fernandez received a sentence of 12 and a half years in prison. Perez-Martinez was sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
Both defendants were convicted of conspiracy to traffic a child and transportation of a child with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Perez-Martinez was also convicted of benefiting from child sex trafficking, as well as aiding and abetting coercion and enticement.
The Department of Homeland Security pointed to the case as an example of federal immigration and law enforcement agencies working with state and local partners to prosecute those involved in child exploitation.
“These depraved illegal aliens were convicted for child sex trafficking,” DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement.
Bis said one of the defendants had been released into the country after being encountered at the southern border during the Biden administration.
“Now, thanks to the hard work of the brave men and women of ICE law enforcement, partner agencies, and our state and local partners, these child traffickers will be behind bars for years,” she said.
She also criticized the Biden administration’s handling of unaccompanied migrant children, arguing that some minors were placed with sponsors who had not been properly vetted.
“Under the Biden Administration, unaccompanied minors were placed with unvetted sponsors who were actually smugglers and sex traffickers,” Bis said. “President Trump and Secretary Mullin are committing to locating these children and holding child sex traffickers accountable.”
According to federal officials, Ramirez-Fernandez entered the United States unlawfully after crossing the southern border without being detected by immigration authorities. Perez-Martinez, meanwhile, was apprehended at the border in Texas in 2023 before later being released into the United States.
The case comes amid ongoing scrutiny of border security policies and the federal government’s handling of migrant children who arrive in the country without a parent or legal guardian. Republicans have repeatedly argued that lax enforcement and weak sponsor screening have put vulnerable children at risk, while immigration officials have said they are working with law enforcement partners to identify victims, locate missing children, and prosecute traffickers.
With the sentencing complete, both Ramirez-Fernandez and Perez-Martinez are expected to remain in federal custody for years.
