3 accused of running brothels in Miami-Dade County
MIAMI - A neighborhood brothel bust has landed three people in jail.
Two men and a woman are all being hit with racketeering, money laundering and prostitution charges after allegedly running brothels out of several Miami-Dade County homes.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office says it has arrested the leaders of a human trafficking ring from Colombia to Miami.
Officials say multiple homes in Miami Gardens were established as brothels and the money was sent back to Colombia.
The boss? A woman.
Elibeth Tovar, Yasdid Ortiz and Omar Jaimes are all being charged with racketeering, money laundering of more than $100,000 and support of prostitution.
The ring leader according to the Miami Dade state attorney is 40-year-old Elibeth Tovar, who is being hit with the additional charge of human trafficking for allegedly operating 6 in-home brothels.
"Based on intelligence information that they gained during the first, primary inaugural Formula One race," said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.
One victim, a woman from Colombia, according to the state attorney was sold a dream by Tovar of new opportunity in Miami with a job at an elevator company.
"Instead she put her to work in a warehouse brothel down south," said Rundle.
That elevator company belongs to co-defendant Yasdid Ortiz.
His attorney argued in bond court he's a well-known businessman.
"He has open contracts with the Miami-Dade County, with the TSA, with Miami airport for elevator. He's one of the most successful elevator cab companies in South Florida," said Ortiz's attorney in court.
But that elevator business according to the state attorney was storage for some brothel profits.
"Ortiz was actually keeping some of the proceeds from these brothels in his elevator business safe," said Rundle.
According to the state attorney, the third man in custody, Omar Jaimes is an ex-Colombian police officer and the father of Tovar's child.
"The primary overseer of the day-to-day operations of the brothels and he provided the security for them," said Rundle.
CBS News Miami asked the state attorney if she has looked into the elevator company and the contracts throughout Miami-Dade County.
She said they will be working with county partners and look into the relationship between the business and the contracts.
