MILLCREEK, Utah, Nov. 18, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A Millcreek couple has been arrested for human trafficking and forgery after they allegedly brought two women into the country illegally from Guatemala, kept them at their residence, forced them to work without pay at fast-food restaurants, and prevented them from contacting family members.
Luis Fernando Mendez-Portillo, 50, and Lesbia Lisseth Figueroa Gallardo, 44, have been booked into the Salt Lake County jail. Police reports for each identify the victims as V1 and V2, and say they are “Guatemalan citizens who wanted to come to the United States to work and send money back home to support their families. V1 and V2 were connected with their (relative), Luis Mendez Portillo, who lives in Millcreek. Luis told them that he knew coyotes and could help them cross the border.”
The victims took out loans for thousands of dollars, the statement says, “and provided the money to Luis, who then coordinated their border crossing. V1 and V2 illegally crossed the border in November of 2022 and began living with Luis and his wife Lesbia Figueroa Gallardo at their residence in Millcreek.
“Luis advised V1 and V2 that they owed him money for the border crossing. V1 and V2 began working at Taco Bell (in Salt Lake City) where Lesbia was the general manager, and KFC (in Salt Lake City) where Luis’s son is a manager. V1 and V2 stated that they worked many hours at each location. Their wages were put onto a pay card which was controlled by Luis.”
The women said they were allowed to talk to their family approximately once a week, under the supervision of Mendez-Portillo or Gallardo. The women were not allowed to have phones, they said.
“V2 stated that Luis told her he would be managing her money and to not think about escaping, assured her he had connections, and that something would happen to her family if she did not pay him back.”
Neither woman has legal status in the United States, say the affidavits, filed by an officer of the Utah Attorney General’s Office.
A warranted search of the couple’s house turned up the women’s Guatemalan passports and Guatemalan identification cards, which had allegedly been withheld from them.
Investigators also confirmed that “V1 had over $19,000 in earnings and V2 had over $4,000 in earnings. These earnings were reported under social security numbers that do not belong to V1 or V2. Neither V1 or V2 had recollection of completing new hire paperwork or being given social security numbers. It was also discovered that Lesbia had over 30,000 dollars in earnings under a social security number that did not belong to her.”
Mendez-Portillo was arrested for investigation of:
- Aggravated human trafficking, a first-degree felony
- Four counts of possess forgery writing/device, a third-degree felony
- Two counts of unlawfully possess ID of another, documents of 1-2 individuals, a class A misdemeanor
Gallardo was arrested for investigation of:
- Aggravated human trafficking, a second-degree felony
- Six counts of possess forgery writing/device, a third-degree felony
Both are being held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail.
