Dunkirk NY man must register as a sex offender
From the Office of U.S Attorney Michael DiGiacomo,
BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Augusto Mateo Francisco, 34, of Dunkirk, NY, who was convicted of two counts of forced labor, and one count of transportation of a minor, was sentenced to serve 30 years in prison and lifetime supervised release by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. Francisco was also ordered to pay restitution and register as a sex offender.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas A. C. Penrose, and Department of Justice Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit Trial Attorney Meghan Tokash, who handled the case, stated that Francisco, a native of Guatemala and a Legal Permanent Resident, facilitated the illegal entry of Guatemalan migrants into the United States and helped transport them to the Dunkirk area, where he would provide them with housing and work at area farms. Francisco would charge the migrants for their housing, rides to work, and for other items. He would also take a cut of the wages they earned working at the farms. Francisco threatened two of the victims by telling them that if they stopped working for him or if they did not pay back the money they purportedly owed to him, he would harm their families or would call immigration authorities and have them deported.
Francisco also pursued a sexual relationship with a minor victim, who was a 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant who had come to the U.S. with her mother. Francisco repeatedly raped the minor and threatened to harm her family in Guatemala, if she told anyone about what had happened. Francisco also kidnapped the minor victim and took her to a trailer in Ripley, NY, where she was held for nearly two weeks, until being rescued by police. After being rescued, the minor victim and her mother fled to Georgia to escape Francisco. However, he followed them and kidnapped the minor victim again and brought her back to the Western District of New York, where he unlawfully held her for several more days.
“This defendant’s conduct of facilitating the illegal entry of migrants into the United States and then extorting them for his own personal and sexual gratification underscores the evils that can be associated with illegal trafficking,” stated U.S. Attorney DiGiacomo. “My office will continue to pursue and prosecute those individuals who engage in such conduct.”
HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan stated, “This case lays bare the sheer depravity of Francisco’s crimes — perpetrated by a foreign national who not only exploited the vulnerabilities of migrants for profit, but also subjected a minor to unimaginable abuse. Francisco weaponized his victims’ immigration status through threats, coercion, and violence, including repeated rapes and multiple kidnappings. This significant sentence underscores the seriousness of his heinous actions and demonstrates HSI’s unyielding commitment, together with our law enforcement partners, to holding such predators accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
The sentencing is the result of by Homeland Security investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan and the Chautauqua County Sherriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff James Quattrone.
