NASHVILLE. Tenn. — Eight Venezuelan nationals have been indicted in connection with sex trafficking women from South America in Middle Tennessee, federal prosecutors and law enforcement announced Tuesday.
The multi-person indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday, accused the defendants of luring dozens of victims to the U.S. on the “promise of a better life” before burdening the women with outrageous debts that far exceeded the costs of their travel, prosecutors said. Prosecutors alleged that the sex trafficking was part of a “scheme to promote an unlawful prostitution enterprise.”
Blackmailed with the debts, the women were forced to have sex with strangers for the profit of the defendants, acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire said at a news conference. The scheme is alleged to have been active from at least July 2022 through March 2024, according to prosecutors.
The eight defendants were in federal custody as of Tuesday morning, according to McGuire.
“The arrests of the defendants today is a demonstration of our full commitment to end human trafficking wherever and whenever we can fight it, and to do whatever it takes to hold traffickers accountable for their crimes,” McGuire said.
“We will do whatever it takes to try to save the lives of victims that we serve,” McGuire added. He said he could not comment on if any of the victims who were in the U.S. without legal documentation could face deportation, but he said “It’s an interest of our office that any survivor of sex trafficking has the ability to hold their offender accountable in court.”
U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire addresses the media concerning an eight-person indictment in connection with the trafficking of women for sex in Middle Tennessee.
Defendants face multiple federal charges
The defendants were identified as:
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Yilibeth Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera
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Kleiver Daniel Mota Rivero
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Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca
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Wilmarys Del Valle Manzano Soloranzo
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Endrik Alexander Morales-Rivero
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Ariannys Beatriz Gutierrez-Carrillo
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Frankyanna Del Valle Romero-Rivero
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Jesus Enrique Castillo Rodriguez
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the enterprise was a family affair; Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera and Kleiver Daniel Mota Rivero are mother and son while five of the other defendants were Mota Rivero’s girlfriend, his children or their spouses, a court filing states. All defendants lack legal immigration status.
They are all charged with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution and conspiracy to commit interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises.
Gomez Machuca, Mota Rivero, and Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera also face a separate sex trafficking conspiracy charge, which carries a maximum punishment of life in prison. Mota Rivero faces a charge of possession of a firearm by an undocumented person.
Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera and Mota Rivero had also each been indicted in Nashville on multiple counts of trafficking for a commercial sex act.
Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera faces nine counts of the crime in Davidson County while Mota Rivero faces four counts of trafficking for a commercial sex act as well as two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in two separate cases in Davidson County court. They’ve remained in Nashville jails since their arrests.
Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera’s bail was previously set at $480,000, and Mota Rivero’s was at $375,000, but they will be ineligible for release on bail since the federal system does not use cash bail. Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera has an immigration detainer against her by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Two defendants accused of having ‘ties’ with Venezuelan gang
The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s announcement of the indictment aligns with law enforcement priorities set by the Trump administration: violent crime and immigration issues.
Two of the defendants were accused of using “their ties” to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to intimidate the women, according to the indictment.
The federal indictment doesn’t state specifically if those two defendants were members of the gang or used the specter of Tren de Aragua affiliation as a scare tactic. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation previously confirmed Mota Rivero was a member of the gang.
Tren de Aragua began as a prison gang in Venezuela, but it has expanded its presence in the Americas in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In July 2024, the Treasury under the Biden administration sanctioned Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization engaged in “diverse criminal activities, such as human smuggling and trafficking, gender-based violence, money laundering, and illicit drug trafficking.”
The gang became a flashpoint during the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The gang was put under a spotlight after President Donald Trump had falsely claimed during a presidential debate that members of Tren de Aragua had “taken over” U.S. cities, such as Aurora, Colorado.
Despite claims that there were “thousands” of Tren de Aragua members in the country, USA TODAY reported in November that authorities have arrested fewer than 135 confirmed gang members.
Contributing: Rick Jervis, Ignacio Calderon, Lauren Villagran and Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Feds charge 8 people with sex trafficking women from South America
