THREE ILLEGAL ALIENS PLEAD GUILTY IN FEDERAL COURT TO SEX TRAFFICKING BY FORCE, FRAUD, AND COERCION AND CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT SEX TRAFFICKING BY FORCE, FRAUD, AND COERCION
Friday, September 11, 2026 - Maurilio Lazcano-Vargas, age 40, of Mexico, who is present in the United States without authorization, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick to sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. Edyn Efrain-Arevalo, age 53, of Guatemala, and Zabdi Guzman-Diaz, age 41, of Mexico, who are also present in the United States without authorization, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion.
According to admissions made as part of their pleas, since at least August 2024, Lazcano-Vargas operated a prostitution scheme that prostituted women, many of whom were illegal aliens in the United States, in various locations in Louisiana. He operated the prostitution venture with his co-defendants, Efrain-Arevalo and Guzman-Diaz, and would ensure that the women that he prostituted would perform commercial sex acts and provide him or others with the money that they earned from such acts.
Specifically, beginning in and after October 2025, Lazcano-Vargas placed online ads through social media mobile and computer applications for commercial sex acts featuring women in the Middle District of Louisiana. He along with others, rented apartments in the Baton Rouge, Kenner, and New Orleans areas so that women could engage in these acts.
In furtherance of the conspiracy, Lazcano-Vargas and others would take the money that the women made, tell the women the prices they were to charge and the amount of time that corresponded with the prices along with any rules for acts that were an extra charge, and communicate directly with other participants in the sex trafficking at the end of the night. Lazcano-Vargas and others also would monitor the total number of men that each women had commercial sex with and how much money was made. A single young woman would have as many as 20 “Johns” or more in one day.
U.S. Attorney Kurt Wall stated, “These defendants not only entered our country illegally, but then took advantage of these young women by trafficking them for sexual activity. These crimes check the boxes of the highest priorities of our office and this Administration.” Wall applauded the teamwork of the several agencies involved which included the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations, Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, and East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Vick and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen Ross lead the prosecution.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Louisiana
