(WNY News Now) A guy from Dunkirk faces life in prison after entering a guilty plea to charges of kidnapping and raping a juvenile, unlawfully trafficking Guatemalan migrants, and forcing them to labor for him.
Buffalo, New York. Augusto Mateo Francisco, 33, of Dunkirk, New York, entered a guilty plea to two counts of forced labor and one count of transportation of a juvenile before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr., according to a statement made today by U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross. A mandatory minimum punishment of 10 years in jail, a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a fine of $250,000 are all associated with the charges.
Francisco, a Guatemalan native and a lawful permanent resident, helped illegally enter the United States and transported Guatemalan migrants to the Dunkirk area, where he would house them and provide them with work at local farms, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas A. C. Penrose, who is handling the case. Francisco would bill the migrants for things like accommodation and transportation to and from employment. Additionally, he would keep a portion of the money they made from their labor on the farms. Francisco intimidated two people (Victims 1 and 2), stating that he would damage their families or call immigration authorities and have them deported if they quit working for him or if they failed to repay the money they allegedly owed him.
Francisco tried to have sex with Minor Victim 1, a 16-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who had traveled to the United States with her mother, in March 2019. Francisco sexually assaulted Minor Victim 1 on multiple occasions while threatening to hurt her family, who were still in Guatemala, if she confided in anybody. Francisco kidnapped Minor Victim 1 in May 2020 and brought her to a trailer in Ripley, New York, where she was detained for almost two
weeks, before the cops came to their aid. Minor Victim 1 and her mother fled to Georgia after being rescued in order to avoid Francisco. But he pursued them and abducted Minor Victim 1, taking her back to the Western District of New York, where he illegally detained her for a few more days before the police once more came to her aid.
The plea is the outcome of investigations conducted by the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, led by Sheriff James Quattrone, and Homeland Security, led by Special Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan.
Judge Sinatra will deliver the sentencing on May 30, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.