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Orange County District Attorney Press Release

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

For Immediate Release                 November 1, 2013

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

THIRTEEN MEN CONVICTED AND SENTENCED FOR ATTEMPTING OR AGREEING TO ENGAGE IN PROSTITUTION

 

SANTA ANA – Thirteen men were convicted and sentenced for attempting or agreeing to engage in prostitution. Geobani Jonathan Benitez, 24, Tustin;  Eufermio Duarte, 36, Santa Ana; Ierusamlema Stevenson Faupusa, 37 Los Alamitos; Jeremy Fields, 38, Costa Mesa; Michael Allen Gomez, 51, Santa Ana; Juan Valdez Heredia, 67, Santa Ana; Noe Hernandez, 35, Santa Ana; and Arnulfo Martinez, 28, Santa Ana; each pleaded guilty in October 2013, to one misdemeanor count of agreeing to engage in prostitution. Jesus Quezada Cisneros, 55, Garden Grove, pleaded guilty Oct. 10, 2013, to one misdemeanor count of loitering with intent to commit prostitution.

 

Benitez, Cisneros, Duarte, Fields, Faupusa, Gomez, Heredia, Hernandez, and Arnulfo Martinez, were each sentenced to three years informal probation and 10 days in jail with the possibility of CalTrans in lieu of jail, and must submit to AIDS testing and education. Benitez, Cisneros, Duarte, Faupusa, Fields, and Hernandez, were also required to donate to the Victim/Witness Emergency Fund.

 

Felipe Barrera Vargas, 33, Garden Grove, pleaded guilty Oct. 11, 2013, to one misdemeanor count of agreeing to engage in prostition with one prior conviction and sentenced to three years informal probation, 45 days in jail, and must submit to AIDS testing and education.

 

Evaristo Nestor Martinez, 41, Santa Ana, pleaded guilty Oct. 24, 2013, to one misdemeanor count of agreeing to engage in prostitution with two prior convictions and was sentenced to three years informal probation, three months in jail, and must submit to AIDS testing and education.

 

Adan Soriano, 31, Garden Grove, pleaded guilty Oct. 25, 2013, to a court offer to one misdemeanor count of agreeing to engage in prostitution with a prior conviction and was sentenced to three years informal probation and five days community service.

 

Deputy District Attorney Michael Bardeen of the HEAT Unit prosecuted these cases.

 

Christian Delgado, 37, Diamond Bar, was convicted by a jury Oct. 28, 2013, of one misdemeanor count of agreeing to engage in prostitution and was sentenced to three years informal probation, 102 hours of community service, and must submit to AIDS testing and education. Deputy District Attorney Don Marc Dimaranen prosecuted this case.

 

These cases were investigated by the Santa Ana Police Department and Garden Grove Police Department.

 

Between April 9, 2013, and Aug. 27, 2013, Benitez, Duarte, Faupusa, Fields, Gomez, Heredia, Hernandez, Arnulfo Martinez, Evaristo Martinez, and Vargas, approached a female undercover officer, whom they believed was a prostitute, in the area of 1400 East First Street and 1100 North Block of Harbor Boulevard. The defendants agreed to engage in commercial sex with the undercover officer and were subsequently arrested by Santa Ana Police Department.

 

At approximately 4:45 a.m. on June 27, 2013, Delgado drove up to a woman, whom he believed to be a prostitute, on 3900 West Hazard Avenue in Santa Ana. Delgado engaged in a brief conversation with the woman before she got into his car. An undercover SAPD witnessed the interaction and arrested the defendant agreeing to engage in prostitution.

 

At approximately 4:45 a.m. on Aug. 14, 2013, Cisneros drove up to a woman, whom he believed to be a prostitute, on 600 South Harbor Boulevard in Santa Ana. Delgado engaged in a brief conversation with the woman before she got into his car. An undercover SAPD witnessed the interaction and arrested the defendant for loitering with intent to commit prostitution.

 

At approximately 10:45 p.m. on Sept. 26, 2013, Soriano approached a female undercover officer, whom he believed to be a prostitute, in the area of Harbor Boulevard and Quatro Avenue in Garden Grove. He agreed to engage in commercial sex with the undercover officer and was subsequently arrested by Garden Grove Police Department.

 

The area of First Street and Harbor Boulevard in Santa Ana, and Harbor Boulevard and Quatro Avenue in Garden Grove, is known to law enforcement to be a high-prostitution area and is known to frequently be used by individuals who sexually exploit and traffic women and underage girls for financial gain, including pimps, panderers, and human traffickers.

 

These case were prosecuted by the Orange County District Attorney’s (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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