Manassas Man Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Girl, 14

A Manassas-area man pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to sex trafficking a 14-year-old female runaway.

Ramiro Espinoza Jamaica, 20, of Manassas, is a member of transnational Hispanic street gang SUR–13, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. He pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a minor yesterday after being indicted in early March.

The announcement was made by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride, along with other law enforcement officials, including Manassas City Police Chief Douglas W. Keen, after the plea was accepted by a U.S. District Court judge.

“We have a zero-tolerance, one-strike policy toward juvenile sex trafficking in this District,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “Anyone we find who entices or forces a young girl into the vile world of prostitution will pay a very heavy price for their actions.”  

According to the release, Jamaica, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen, took in a 14-year-old female runaway for purposes of prostitution in early 2011. Jamaica admitted that he escorted the young girl to a prostitution appointment, used his sublet bedroom for a prostitution appointment, and provided the girl with alcohol to help her have sex with a client.   

“This case demonstrates how an individual can prey upon young girls and lure them into prostitution,” said James. W. McJunkin, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “The FBI is committed to apprehending and prosecuting individuals who sexually exploit children, and we will continue to work to identify these predators and their victims.”       

Jamaica is the first SUR-13 gang member to be convicted of child sex trafficking. Since 2011 the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia has charged and convicted members of MS-13 and the Underground Gangster Crips with the sex trafficking of juveniles,

Jamaica faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison when he is sentenced on July 13.