The madam who ran a brothel in Houston’s Gulfton neighborhood, which subjected women to years of threats and abuse, has been sentenced to spend the rest of her life in federal prison.
Maria Angelica “Patty” Moreno-Reyna, 59, was sentenced Oct. 9 to two concurrent life terms after pleading guilty to sex trafficking by means of force, threats, fraud or coercion and a related conspiracy count.
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Life sentences in federal court do not carry the possibility of parole.
The sentence is the longest punishment handed out so far in connection with the Southwest Cholos-run brothel at six apartment buildings in Houston. Police shut down the brothel in 2017, and a federal grand jury indicted 23 people connected to the illicit business on charges mostly related to sex trafficking and prostitution.
Among the people arrested were Moreno-Reyna’s husband, sons and other family members.
Moreno-Reyna pleaded guilty in December 2023 to two of the 27 charges against her. Judge Charles Eskridge didn’t issue a fine – which could have amounted to $500,000 – but left the amount of restitution that Moreno-Reyna must pay to her victims undetermined.
As part of the plea agreement, Moreno-Reyna agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in other court proceedings, though it’s unclear if she has participated in any other investigations.
Moreno-Reyna helped manage the Southwest Cholos sex trafficking operations. In her plea agreement, she admitted to helping smuggle four women to Houston from Mexico and Central America between 2010 and 2016.
Moreno-Reyna would charge the women and their families to smuggle them across the border and ply them with lies, saying the women could repay their debt by working in a restaurant. When they reached Houston, the women were forced into prostitution. Some of the brothels’ prostitutes were as young as 14.
The Carriage Way apartment complex, photographed one week after an FBI takedown, was home to a sex trafficking operation by the Southwest Cholos in the Gulfport section of Houston between 2009 and 2017. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/Houston Chronicle)
Women who tried to escape were tracked down, even after returning to Mexico, and assaulted or had their families threatened or extorted. Some of the women were marked with tattoos and forced to have cosmetic surgery so they could be more “profitable” for the brothels.
The Cholos’ trafficking network reached as far as Honduras and El Salvador, and women were often moved to Cancún and McAllen before reaching Houston.
Federal agents described one of the brothels run by Moreno-Reyna – the Carriage Way Apartments on Dashwood – as one of the gang’s most profitable. The gang controlled 10 of the building’s 70 units and ran the prostitutes for 14 hours a day. The building was also a hub for methamphetamine and heroin sales and gun trafficking, according to the FBI.
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Moreno-Reyna’s five sons acted as enforcers at the brothels. They were all indicted, as were her husband and brother, who were accused of handling the human smuggling side of the gang’s operations. Two of Moreno-Reyna’s daughters also worked as prostitutes, according to federal agents.
It’s unclear how many women were trafficked through the brothel, but at the time of the indictments, the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, a collaboration between police and nonprofits, had identified 13 women who had been forced to work there.
Federal prosecutors seized 10 properties owned by Moreno-Reyna across Harris County in neighborhoods ranging from the Northside to Eastwood, Pecan Park and Edgebrook that were used to house the sex trafficking victims.
Of the 23 people indicted in the brothel case, 10 have been sentenced, including Moreno-Reyna. The sentences ranged from two years’ probation to her maximum penalty. Hector Reyna, one of Moreno-Reyna’s sons, in August was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Another eight people have pleaded guilty but have yet to be sentenced. Despite their pleas, the final disposition of their cases has been pending for as long as seven years, according to court records.
One of the defendants had the charges against him dismissed.
Four of the people named in the indictment have never been arrested and have active warrants out for their capture.
Moreno-Reyna joins a relatively small number of people who have been sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in federal prison. Of the more than 143,000 people serving federal sentences, only about 3,600 – 2.5 percent – were sentenced to life, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
This article originally published at Houston madam who ran Gulfton brothel sentenced to life in federal prison.