A Tren de Aragua gang member who was apprehended in El Paso has been sentenced for trafficking people from the now-defunct Gateway Hotel in Downtown.
According to court records, Estefania Primera, aka “La Barbie”, pleaded guilty to human trafficking and was sentenced to two years on June 4.
According to court records, Primera has 616 days of “jail credit”, which means that her sentence will be reduced by that number of days because she was held for that long while awaiting trial.
As you may recall, Primera was the topic of a New York Post report that stated she had been arrested for drugging a woman and allowing men to rape her in exchange for money.
According to court records, the victim, who was in Border Patrol detention when she acknowledged working as a prostitute in El Paso, entered the United States in October 2023.
Primera allegedly first told the victim that she could make money by prostituting herself; however, when the victim refused, Primera forced her to take an M30 pill containing fentanyl, as well as another pill that caused the woman to go “in and out of consciousness” while men raped her.
According to court filings, the woman would wake up bleeding and injured on several occasions, and instead of getting medical care, Primera allegedly told her to take another M30 pill.
The woman attempted to exit the hotel at least once but was allegedly forced back in by Primera.
The woman also reportedly informed the hotel manager about the abuse, but they dismissed it as domestic violence and instructed her to return to her room.
The woman did not leave the hotel until September 10, 2024, when she “purposely” approached a border patrol official for assistance.
A week later, she was examined by a special agent from the Texas Department of Public Safety, who discovered a listing for the woman on a website promoting various sexual services.
During the questioning, the lady also told the DPS agent that she witnessed men paying Primera for sexual services, but she never got any money herself.
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