Two brothers were sentenced to jail time after they pleaded guilty on sex trafficking and promoting prostitution charges for forcing a 25-year-old woman who was “sold” to them for $200 to have sex with numerous men for money, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced.
Brown identified the defendants as Evan Hernandez, 25, of Corona, and Richard Hernandez, 27, of Brooklyn.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory L. Lasak sentenced Evan Hernandez, who previously pleaded guilty to sex trafficking, to an indeterminate term of four and a half years to nine years in prison, and sentenced Richard Hernandez, who previously pleaded guilty to second-degree promoting prostitution charges, to an indeterminate term of three to six years in prison, on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
“This case makes it abundantly clear that prostitution is not a victimless crime but a terrifying and despicable offense against society — and the young women that it enslaves,” Brown said. “The sentences imposed by the court punish both the defendants for their actions and send a clear message that crimes such as these will not be tolerated in Queens County.”
According to the criminal charges, Evan Hernandez was introduced to the victim on April 15, 2014, by another woman at the Queens Motor Inn, located on Queens Boulevard in Woodside. The next morning, the other woman left with most of the victim’s belongings, leaving her in the hands of Evan Hernandez, who told the victim that she was sold to him for $200 and that she needed to work for him as a prostitute to repay the debt.
That same day, both brothers forced the victim to have sexual intercourse with them while Evan Hernandez held a gun to her head and also forced her to perform oral sex on him, the charges continued. On two other occasions that during that month, the victim was forced to have sexual intercourse with Richard Hernandez at the inn.
Reportedly, the Hernandez brothers kept the victim in the motor inn between April 16-21, 2014, and forced her to have sexual intercourse with several men in exchange for money, which she was required to give to the brothers.
During that time, Evan Hernandez assaulted the victim numerous times, pointed a gun at her head and threatened to kill her. It is reported that Evan Hernandez took the victim’s phone and posted pictures of her on a website and arranged prostitution dates for her at the inn.
On April 21, 2014, the victim managed to use a client’s phone to call her mother, who then called 911 and alerted authorities to her daughter’s location.
