San Antonio Man Pleads Guilty for Role in Sex-trafficking Ring

WASHINGTON - Timothy Michael Gereb pleaded guilty today in federal court in San Antonio, for his role in a sex trafficking ring involving at least one teenage girl, the Justice Department announced. Gereb is one of five defendants named in an indictment filed in San Antonio in June 2007, following a federal sex trafficking investigation.

During his guilty plea hearing, Gereb admitted that he recruited a Mexican girl under the age of 18 years to engage in prostitution in San Antonio. Additionally, Gereb admitted that he conspired with others to transport at least three illegal aliens across the border between the United States and Mexico for the purpose of establishing a prostitution business.

Gereb is scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2008.

“Through his guilty plea, the defendant admitted responsibility for exploiting a teenage girl,” said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department takes these charges very seriously and is committed to prosecuting those who exploit vulnerable young women lured into this country with false promises of a better life.”

Three of Gereb’s co-defendants, Isabel Ochoa, Pilar Ochoa and Maria Ochoa pleaded guilty to related charges on Oct. 18, 2007. No trial date has been set for Gereb’s remaining co-defendant, Brent Stephens.

The case was investigated by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and investigators with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Baumann and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti.