Cloudy with snow showers developing for the afternoon. High 33F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Snow showers this evening. Cloudy with some light freezing drizzle possible later. Low 31F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Updated: November 28, am. The young women wrote of nightmares and panic attacks. Of feeling dirty and unworthy of love. They wrote of their self-hatred, the aftermath of being coerced into selling their bodies for sex.
Several of those women were in a federal courtroom in Council Bluffs on Monday, and their statements were read aloud. It was the first time the woman, 20 years old and rail-thin, had the chance to face the husband and wife after escaping the sex trafficking ring that the couple operated out of their Omaha home.
You can rot in prison for all I care. The woman, who ran away from home, said she fell in love with a man who coerced her into becoming a prostitute. That man was Ramon D. Heredia, As the Hortons did, the Heredias pleaded guilty last fall to conspiring to commit or financially benefit from sex trafficking in Omaha, Council Bluffs and Sarpy County. The Heredias are both seeking lesser sentences for their cooperation. Katherine Heredia will be sentenced today and, under a plea agreement, is expected to receive 36 months in prison.
Merrideth Crane-Horton was the mastermind behind the ring, which ran from August to June , according to law enforcement officials. Katherine Heredia was the first prostitute to work for the ring. She had just gotten out of jail on a burglary charge and needed a place to stay. She agreed to do so for Ramon Heredia, who eventually became her husband. Soon, enough money was coming in that Edwin Horton quit his concrete job and stayed home to drink and smoke pot while Merrideth Crane-Horton and Ramon Heredia expanded the ring.
At least six women worked as prostitutes in the ring, which advertised daily on Internet sites like Craigslist. Heredia said she blocked the knife with a pillow. The ring started to unravel in January , when Council Bluffs police and the FBI set up a prostitution sting in response to a Craigslist ad. Shortly after the sting, the Hortons and Heredias knew they were the targets of a federal investigation, yet they continued to operate the ring six more months.
