A Cuban migrant is among the victims of a human trafficking ring dismantled in El Paso, Texas, where a prominent local lawyer was arrested, accused of paying for sexual services to the woman, who was forced into prostitution to repay a debt to the traffickers who smuggled her into the United States.
According to the American channel KFOX-TVlawyer Mario Ortiz Saroldi, 51, allegedly paid $850 to have sex with a Cuban migrant who entered the country in January 2024.
The media, affiliated with the channel Fox Broadcasting Company and based in El Paso, reported that the lawyer was filmed several times picking up the woman from a house on the east side of the city, where it is believed she was sexually exploited by her captors.
The investigation, conducted for more than a year by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Department of Homeland Security (HSI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), led to the dismantling of a human trafficking network with international connections. Nine people were arrested for crimes related to prostitution, human trafficking, aggravated promotion of prostitution, drug possession and organized crime, according to documents cited by KFOX-TV et El Paso Times.
The DPS confirmed in an official statement that the network had an international reach, operating “from Cuba, through Central America and Mexico, to the El Paso area.” Authorities determined that once in the United States, Cuban women were forced into prostitution to repay debts to traffickers who helped them cross the border.
The newspaper reported that the Cuban victim was kept under constant surveillance and ordered to hand over up to $300 a day to his captors, identified as Yasiel Rodríguez-Amaro, 31, and Katherine Ventura-Amaro, 37, both residents of El Paso. Investigators also discovered bank transactions linking the lawyer to Rodríguez-Amaro, confirming the payment of the $850.
Additionally, the media outlet noted that Ortiz Saroldi has been practicing as an attorney since 2004 and that the Texas Department of Public Safety’s statement indicates that “he is believed to represent some of those involved” in the network. In court files, he is listed as the defense lawyer for Tamara Batista-Ramírez, one of the suspects also arrested during the operation. Authorities added that Ortiz Saroldi allegedly requested sexual favors from some of his own clients, aggravating the case due to the possible abuse of his professional position.
Batista-Ramírez was arrested on suspicion of aggravated promotion of prostitution, while Rodríguez-Amaro and Ventura-Amaro face charges of promoting prostitution online, engaging in organized criminal activity and possession of controlled substances.
Ortiz Saroldi was arrested on October 8 for solicitation of prostitution. He was released a day later after posting $7,500 bail, according to court records cited by El Paso Times. Authorities have not said whether the attorney knew the woman was being trafficked.
The investigation remains open and the authorities do not rule out other arrests linked to this network. Meanwhile, the Cuban victim is under the protection of American agencies, waiting for the legal process to advance against his alleged exploiters.
