He smuggled immigrants into America then forced them to work for free
A Cuban national was convicted in U.S. District Court Monday on felony labor trafficking and immigrant smuggling charges for forcing two Cuban women to work in South Florida strip clubs to repay their debts to him for bringing them into the U.S.
The conviction resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.
Ivan Madrigal Zamora, 47, was convicted of two counts of forced labor trafficking and two counts of encouraging and inducing an illegal immigrant to reside in the United States.
Ivan entered the United States with a female Cuban national through Mexico in May 2016. Upon arriving in Florida, Ivan forced the woman to dance in south Florida strip clubs to earn money to repay him for the $10,000 it cost to bring her into the United States.
Ivan then had a second female smuggled from Cuba into Florida that he also directed to work in strip clubs to pay back Ivan’s imposed debt on her of $26,000.
A third female he smuggled from Cuba and attempted to force into the same situation in early 2017 reported Ivan to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, which prompted the investigation that ultimately resulted in his arrest and conviction.
Ivan is scheduled to be sentenced on January 11, 2019. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 60 years in federal prison.
