LYNN — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office secured guilty verdicts against four defendants in connection with a sex-trafficking ring in Boston, including one resident from Lynn.
Jose Deblas, 38, of Lynn, was convicted for his connection with the operation in the Boston area following a five-week trial. The others convicted along with Deblas were Cristina Lasso, 52, of Saugus; Marlon Nagano, 43, of East Boston; and Jorge Lasso, 60, of Chelsea, for operating four residential brothels in East Boston, Chelsea and Lynn from October 2018 to July 2019.
Women from Central and South America were rotated through the brothels on a weekly basis, according to the evidence presented at the trial. Cristina Lasso led the organization while Jorge Lasso, Deblas and Nagano recruited victims, advertised sexual services and set up appointments for sexual encounters.
They also transported the women to and from the various brothels and facilitated the exchange of money.
The press release stated that investigators and prosecutors used “vast amounts” of physical evidence seized from the brothels, as well as pole surveillance footage, documentary evidence, recorded interviews and digital evidence to identify and convict the defendants.
Cristina Lasso was found guilty of four counts of Trafficking Persons for Sexual Servitude, four counts of maintaining a House of Prostitution, four counts of keeping a House of Ill Fame, and one count of Money Laundering.
Deblas was found guilty of one count of Trafficking Persons for Sexual Servitude, two counts of maintaining a House of Prostitution, two counts of keeping a House of Ill Fame, and one count of Money Laundering.
Nagano was found guilty of one count of Trafficking Persons for Sexual Servitude, one count of maintaining a House of Prostitution, two counts of keeping a House of Ill Fame, and one count of Money Laundering.
Jorge Lasso was found guilty of one count of Trafficking Persons for Sexual Servitude and one count of Money Laundering.
The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in Suffolk Superior Court on May 2 at 9 a.m.
