19 men convicted for trying to hook up with prostitutes in Orange County

Orange County District Attorney Press Release

For Immediate Release: April 16, 2014

19 MEN CONVICTED OF LOITERING, SOLICITING, ENGAGING, AND/OR AGREEING TO ENGAGE IN PROSTITUTION

SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) convicted 19 men of loitering, soliciting, engaging, and/or agreeing to engage in prostitution. The men were convicted in March 2014. The defendants in these cases approached a woman, whom they believed to be a prostitute, in areas known for prostitution and human trafficking in Orange County. They agreed to engage in commercial sex, engaged in prostitution, loitered with intent to commit prostitution, and/or solicited another to engage in prostitution with a woman or an undercover officer and were subsequently arrested by law enforcement.

The Buena Park Police Department, Garden Grove Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and Santa Ana Police Department investigated these cases. Deputy District Attorney Michael Bardeen of the HEAT Unit prosecuted these cases.

The defendants below each pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count each of agreeing to engage in prostitution, loitering with the intent to commit prostitution, and/or soliciting another to engage in prostitution. The defendants were each sentenced up to three years informal probation, up to 20 days in jail with the possibility of CalTrans in lieu of jail, and must submit to DNA testing. Some of the defendants were also required to donate up to $500 to the Victim Witness Emergency Fund.

· Min Young Cho, 36, Los Angeles

· Freddy Meneses-Dantorie, 39, Anaheim

· Alejandro Elisea, 20, Buena Park

· Ray Garcia Essex, 43, Buena Park

· Garren Thomas Falagrady, 24, Aliso Viejo

· Perfecto Torres Flores, 44, San Clemente

· Joseph Allen Floyd, 55, Fullerton

· Javier Lagunas, 19, Garden Grove

· Jose Arturo Rosa Lopez, 32, Orange

· Jose Montano, 77, Stanton

· Hani Maher Nasr, 35, Buena Park

· Onesimo Juarez-Ojeda, 42, Santa Ana

· Said Olazagsti, 26, Santa Ana

· Javier Huerta-Ramirez, 39, Santa Ana

· Andres Rodriguez, 49, Riverside

· Jose Gutierrez Ruiz, 41, Santa Ana

· Frank Melesio Sanchez, 27, Highland

· Silverio Tezoyotl, 27, Santa Ana

Mateo Mendez, 33, Santa Ana, was convicted by a jury March 3, 2014, of one misdemeanor count of agreeing to engage in prostitution and loitering with the intent to commit prostitution and was sentenced to the terms listed above. Deputy District Attorney Kelly Manley prosecuted this case.

These cases were prosecuted by the OCDA Human Exploitation And Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, which targets perpetrators who sexually exploit and traffic women and underage girls for financial gain, including pimps, panderers, and human traffickers. Commercial sex trafficking is the second most lucrative criminal enterprise behind narcotics trafficking. Often the perpetrators are gang members and/or career criminals.

The HEAT Unit also targets defendants who create a demand for prostitution by soliciting and purchasing sex, which increases the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children. The HEAT Unit uses a tactical plan called PERP: Prosecution of human trafficking perpetrators and sex purchasers; Education for law enforcement to properly handle human trafficking and pandering cases; Resources to raise public awareness and provide assistance to the victims; and Publicity to inform the community about the problem and notify human traffickers and sex purchasers that this crime cannot be perpetrated without suffering severe consequences.

The OCDA announced in April 2013 that he will publicize the names of defendants convicted of sexually exploiting women or children by soliciting sex acts as part of the campaign to reduce the demand of human exploitation and trafficking.

A press release will be sent out once a month detailing the arrests and convictions of sex purchasers.

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Tony Rackauckas, District Attorney
401 Civic Center Drive West
Santa Ana, CA 92701

Contacts:

Susan Kang Schroeder
Chief of Staff
Office: 714-347-8408
Cell: 714-292-2718

Farrah Emami
Spokesperson
Office: 714-347-8405
Cell: 714-323-4486