Brothel Madam Fined for Trafficking in Humans

On February tenth, sixty-four year old Estela Gonzalez of Temptation Bar, was convicted of Trafficking in Humans by a jury. The jury believed the sworn testimony of a fifteen year old who claimed that Gonzalez brought her into the country under false pretences and forced her to have sex for money. It only took an hour and a half for the verdict of guilty to be returned, with sentencing deferred to today. The conviction carries a sentence of eight years, but tonight brothel madam Estela Gonzalez is free. In a decision he read this afternoon Justice Adolph Lucas explained that he made his ruling primarily based on the testimony of two of Gonzalez’s doctors. Those doctors, Fernando Cuellar and Javier Novelo, told the court that they were treating Gonzalez for hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes which had led to the early stages of kidney disease. Gonzalez’s attorney, Ellis Arnold, submitted that the Belize Central Prison did not have the facilities to care for the sick woman. Lucas stated that he had taken into account the suffering of the Honduran girl but felt he had to offer Gonzalez a fine instead of a custodial sentence. With that, Lucas started reading off figures – a thirty thousand dollar fine, plus twenty-eight thousand, five hundred and eighty eight dollars paid as restitution to the Human Services Department for taking care of the trafficking victim. Lucas also directed Gonzalez to pay five hundred and eighty-eight dollars to the child for wages she lost and fifteen thousand for her suffering while at Temptation Hill. That’s seventy-four thousand one hundred and eight dollars which Gonzalez was asked to pay immediately or face a year in prison. We can report that it was paid within ten minutes and Gonzalez is now a free woman.