Latest news with #Velasquez-Martinez
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Human trafficking suspect arrested after investigation at Nashville motels
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A man was arrested Tuesday following an investigation into a human trafficking operation based out of Nashville motels. According to court documents, special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation conducted an investigation in December 2023 into a human trafficking operation at Super 8 in the 800 block of Murfreesboro Pike and Somatel Nashville Airport Hotel on Metroplex Drive. 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → During this investigation, officials spoke with two women who claimed they were recruited in Venezuela and smuggled to the United States. Once in Tennessee, the women were reportedly forced into engaging in commercial sex to pay off 'fines' of $20,000-$30,000. Arrest documents detail how the women were sex trafficked under the direction of several people, including Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero and Yilibeth Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera –who were indicted in February for their roles in a Middle Tennessee-based sex trafficking operation. Tuesday, officers arrested a third person — 25-year-old Ramon de Jesus Velasquez-Martinez — for his role in a similar operation involving Mota-Rivero. According to reports, one of the women said between November 2023 and February 2025 Velasquez-Martinez sent commercial sex clients to her motel rooms, took the money earned from these interactions and frequently took her cellphone to monitor who she was in contact with. RELATED: Several Venezuelan nationals indicted for role in Middle Tennessee-based sex trafficking ring The woman told authorities that in 2024, she escaped the trafficking operation and moved to Miami to work at a restaurant. Velasquez-Martinez reportedly showed up at her workplace and threatened her with a gun to go with him while making comments about her children back in Venezuela. Court documents said after this interaction she returned to Nashville with him and was forced back in to participating in commercial sex acts. During the investigation authorities reportedly found 26 advertisements for commercial sex posted in Nashville which featured Velasquez-Martinez's phone number as the main point of contact. Authorities said thousands of text messages were recovered between Velasquez-Martinez and other suspects regarding commercial sex clients, advertisements and firearms. ⏩ Velasquez-Martinez is charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felony trafficking for a commercial sex act. According to Davidson County Sheriff's Office records, he is being held on an ICE detainer and a $150,000 bond. If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
Illegal immigrant charged after Virginia man found stabbed to death in stranger's home: ICE
A Salvadoran illegal immigrant has been arrested and charged after allegedly stabbing a Virginia man to death in a stranger's home on March 27, according to local reports and authorities. Jose Velasquez-Martinez, 27, is charged with malicious wounding and murder in connection with 29-year-old Brandon Probst's death in Warrenton, according to the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson confirmed to Fox 5 Dc that Velasquez-Martinez "is an illegally present Salvadoran national." "He illegally entered the United States on an unknown date in 2011, at an unknown location, and without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official," the spokesperson told the outlet. South Carolina Ag Takes On Illegal Immigrant Hit-and-run, Promises Criminals 'We're Coming For You' The sheriff's office said in a news release that its Criminal Investigations Division "has been working around the clock since the suspicious death that occurred east of Linden, Virginia, during the night of March 27, 2025." Read On The Fox News App That evening, at around 9:50, a woman returned to her home in Warrenton "to discover a stranger inside and injured with what appeared to be traumatic lacerations," the agency stated in the release. Rachel Morin's Mom Calls Out Biden-harris For Ignoring Family After Migrant Murder Court documents obtained by FOX 5 say the two men got into an altercation outside the woman's home, and Velasquez-Martinez allegedly stabbed Probst in the neck. Probst then entered the woman's home, where she eventually found him and called 911. Ice Says It Deported 174 Criminal Migrants From Texas, Including A Man With 39 Illegal Entries The woman and Probst did not know each other, according to the outlet. Probst later died of his injuries at a local hospital. Detectives' investigation ultimately led them to Augusta County, where they arrested Velasquez-Martinez on March 31 in a Front Royal hotel room. Fauquier County Sheriff Jeremy Falls is "appreciative of the hard work demonstrated by our detectives and the collaboration with the Augusta County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Smith," the sheriff's office said. Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact detectives at article source: Illegal immigrant charged after Virginia man found stabbed to death in stranger's home: ICE
Fox News
04-04-2025
- Fox News
Illegal immigrant charged after Virginia man found stabbed to death in stranger's home: ICE
A Salvadoran illegal immigrant has been arrested and charged after allegedly stabbing a Virginia man to death in a stranger's home on March 27, according to local reports and authorities. Jose Velasquez-Martinez, 27, is charged with malicious wounding and murder in connection with 29-year-old Brandon Probst's death in Warrenton, according to the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson confirmed to FOX 5 DC that Velasquez-Martinez "is an illegally present Salvadoran national." "He illegally entered the United States on an unknown date in 2011, at an unknown location, and without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official," the spokesperson told the outlet. The sheriff's office said in a news release that its Criminal Investigations Division "has been working around the clock since the suspicious death that occurred east of Linden, Virginia, during the night of March 27, 2025." That evening, at around 9:50, a woman returned to her home in Warrenton "to discover a stranger inside and injured with what appeared to be traumatic lacerations," the agency stated in the release. Court documents obtained by FOX 5 say the two men got into an altercation outside the woman's home, and Velasquez-Martinez allegedly stabbed Probst in the neck. Probst then entered the woman's home, where she eventually found him and called 911. The woman and Probst did not know each other, according to the outlet. Probst later died of his injuries at a local hospital. Detectives' investigation ultimately led them to Augusta County, where they arrested Velasquez-Martinez on March 31 in a Front Royal hotel room. Fauquier County Sheriff Jeremy Falls is "appreciative of the hard work demonstrated by our detectives and the collaboration with the Augusta County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Smith," the sheriff's office said. Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact detectives at 540-422-8650.
