On Monday, federal prosecutors began presenting their case against Nelson Adrian Perez-Martinez, an undocumented Venezuelan immigrant linked to a disturbing sex trafficking operation in San Antonio. Authorities allege he was a key player in a scheme that held a 16-year-old girl against her will in a hotel and sold her for sex.
Perez-Martinez faces serious charges, including sex trafficking of minors, and could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted.
This investigation kicked off in July 2024, when local police and agents from Homeland Security started looking into reports that young women (and possibly boys) were being advertised for sexual services online, according to official documents.
During the investigation, an undercover officer visited a motel on Pasteur Court, near the Medical Center. Disguised as a customer, the officer alleged he encountered two individuals keeping an eye on his arrival—identified later as Perez-Martinez and his co-defendant Giannys Alexandra Ramirez-Fernandez.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sade Bogart shared with the jury that the undercover officer wasn’t aware the woman he met inside was a 16-year-old until she openly discussed services for $180. When the officer decided to move in for an arrest, a code word was used, and his backup team barged into the room. Bogart relayed the victim’s nervous state, explaining to the jury, “She had just been caught, was hungry, and felt cornered into having sex for money.”
Once authorities managed to speak with the young girl, she informed them that her captors were running online ads stating she would be “sold for sex for anywhere from $100 to $400 for engagements lasting between 10 and 60 minutes.””, “Each previously-arrested defendant confessed that they knew the girl was underage and that they were part of the trafficking operation.
The jury is expected to hear from the girl during Tuesday’s proceedings.
Perez-Martinez’s defense attorney, Marina Thais Douenat, argues that her client was not involved in trafficking activities. She claimed that his co-defendant and the girl were independently running a sex-for-money scheme, suggesting her client was merely “stranded” in San Antonio and was not mixed up in their actions.
Douenat stated, “He was in the company of Giannys and the girl, but he wasn’t involved in the conspiracy or acting as a lookout.” She also claimed that evidence from his cellphone would prove he hadn’t made any calls or scheduled meetings related to sexual services. According to her, officers were merely biased and eager to support their initial assumptions when they decided to arrest her client.
It is worth noting that Ramirez-Fernandez, Perez-Martinez’s co-defendant, has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking minors, conspiracy charges, and the transportation of a minor. She is now facing a possible 10 years to life imprisonment pending sentencing.
