A woman helped her husband continue his sex trafficking scheme while he was in jail, federal prosecutors say.
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A woman helped continue her husband’s violent enterprise of sex trafficking six women while he was in jail, federal prosecutors said.
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Jean Noriega, 52, of Paterson, New Jersey, kept control over his scheme, and the victims, that he profited from despite being incarcerated in an unrelated case, according to prosecutors. He did so through calls to his wife, Enna Gonzalez, 58, of Paterson, in 2017, court documents show.
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During Noriega’s calls with Gonzalez, she’d often hand the phone to one victim so he could directly threaten her, according to a criminal complaint. Other times, Noriega made indirect threats to her through Gonzalez, the criminal complaint says.
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On one occasion, the woman was warned by Gonzalez that she could run but “(Noriega) gonna find you, he always does. And what you are doing (not earning enough money) is making it for times worse,” the complaint says.
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In the case’s latest development, a judge sentenced Noriega to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking and a conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced in a July 10 news release.
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Gonzalez was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, according to prosecutors.
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Attorney Dennis Carletta, who represented Noriega, declined a request for comment from McClatchy News on July 12. McClatchy News contacted attorney Paul Condon, who represented Gonzalez, for comment on July 12 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
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Condon told the Paterson Press that Gonzalez “never had been in trouble before (Noriega) came into her life, and now she is trying to put this behind her.”
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He said Noriega physically abused her and compelled her into participating in the sex trafficking scheme, the newspaper reported. Now, she’s divorcing Noriega, according to Condon.
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The sex trafficking enterprise
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Noriega’s sex trafficking scheme took place in 2016 and 2017 in New Jersey and New York, including when he was in jail in 2017 in New York, according to prosecutors.
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The illegal enterprise involved “exploiting severely drug-dependent young women and using force, threats and other means to coerce them to engage in commercial sex acts,” the criminal complaint says.
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Such means included beatings and threats to withhold drugs, according to prosecutors and the criminal complaint.
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When Noriega beat one woman, he made others watch, the criminal complaint says.
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Gonzalez helped keep up the “climate of fear” Noriega established by warning the women her husband would beat them if they didn’t participate in forced prostitution, according to investigators.
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Noriega’s son John Oyola, 36, also took part in the sex trafficking business, and recorded some of the beatings carried out by his father, according to the criminal complaint.
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Oyola is also accused of driving women from a home Noriega maintained in Paterson to hotels for commercial sex acts, the criminal complaint says.
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He previously pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and a conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, court records show. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 26.
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McClatchy News contacted an attorney representing Oyola for comment on July 12 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
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When the Paterson Press asked Condon if Noriega may continue his sex-trafficking scheme while in federal prison, he said, “I’m unaware of what his intentions are.”
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“Unless he finds some other conduit on the street, I think his time as a sex trafficker has come to a close,” Condon told the outlet.
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Julia Marnin is a McClatchy National Real-Time reporter covering the Southeast and Northeast from New York. She is an alumna of The College of New Jersey and joined McClatchy in 2021. She has previously written for Newsweek, Modern Luxury, Gannett and more.