Danielle R. Sassoon, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Jorge Alberto Ramos has been sentenced to 97 months in prison. Ramos was found guilty of smuggling three female victims from El Salvador to the U.S., where he sexually abused them, and possessing child pornography. The sentence was delivered by U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl, who also oversaw Ramos's guilty plea.
U.S. Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon stated: “Today, Jorge Alberto Ramos was held to account for his horrific exploitation of women he smuggled into the United States and sexually abused over the course of a decade. We thank and commend the courageous women who came forward to law enforcement. Ramos’s sentencing is a reminder that the Southern District of New York will work tirelessly to protect vulnerable victims from abuse.”
According to court documents and proceedings, between 2013 and 2023, Ramos smuggled three victims from El Salvador to the Bronx, New York. He raped, sexually assaulted, and abused them after grooming them with gifts and money while expressing concern for their families. Ramos paid smugglers to transport these women across the southern U.S. border.
Once in New York, each victim was taken at different times to Ramos's residence in the Bronx where they were subjected to sexual assault. Victim-1 was assaulted continuously for several weeks in 2016 until she escaped; Victim-2 endured similar abuse for about a month in 2017 before fleeing; Victim-3 suffered multiple assaults between 2013 and 2014.
Ramos attempted to control these women by keeping them isolated within his residence and threatening deportation if they disobeyed him.
Upon arresting Ramos, law enforcement seized a desktop computer from his home which contained multiple images and videos of known child pornography.
In addition to his prison term, Ramos will serve five years of supervised release following his incarceration.
Ms. Sassoon praised "the outstanding investigative work" conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department.
The case is managed by the Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division alongside the Violent and Organized Crime Unit with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth A. Espinosa, Emily A. Johnson, and Jane Kim leading the prosecution.