Four in family among six held in alien sex ring

Six Montgomery County residents have been arrested in connection with transporting illegal aliens into the county to work in a prostitution ring, officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland said yesterday.

A federal grand jury indicted the group — which includes a mother and her three children — on charges that they brought prostitutes into Maryland to work during the week and arranged for them to travel back to their homes in New York and New Jersey on weekends.

Most of the prostitutes were illegal aliens and have not been charged in connection with the ring, officials said.

“They are not charged in this indictment,” said Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland.

Named in the indictment are Elsy Aparicio, 43, Eliazor Gonzalez Aparicio, 29, Dorinalda Aparicio, 34, and their mother, Olinda Aparicio, 64, all of Gaithersburg; and Jair Francis, 32, of Wheaton, and Manuel Jandres, 38, of Germantown.

Officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said they have placed detainers on two of the suspects, meaning they could face deportation after their criminal charges are resolved. Officials did not specify which suspects could be deported.

ICE spokeswoman Ernestine Fobbs said the investigation into the prostitution ring is ongoing.

Officials said the group operated from February 2004 through July of this year.

According to the indictment, the defendants purchased and rented apartments and homes in Gaithersburg, Germantown and Hyattsville to use as brothels.

Neighbors near one of the homes, in the 19000 block of Frederick Road in Germantown, said they had noticed a lot of people hanging around the house.

“Sometimes a lot of people are coming there, in the nights or the evenings,” said neighbor Honorio Davila. “They have some wrong business, I guess.”

“There [are] a lot of people, but we don’t pay attention to it,” said Dawn Carlisle, 21. “That’s none of our business.”

The group used vans and other vehicles to bring the prostitutes into the state, according to the documents.

In addition, the Aparicios paid Mr. Francis to provide them with information regarding law-enforcement inquiries into their prostitution business, according to the indictment.

The suspects each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to transport the illegal aliens for prostitution purposes.

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