Case 1:11-mj-00122-TRJ

/0*S. Document 2 Filed 02/09/11 Page 1 of 8

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE

F® - 9 20U
EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

Alexandria Division

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) UNDER SEAL

)
v. )
) CRIMINAL NO. 1:11MJ122
ALEXANDER RIVAS, also known as )
"CASPER" ) Hon. Theresa Carroll Buchanan
)
DEFENDANT. )

AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF CRIMINAL COMPLAINT

I, Richard M. Baer, Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (hereafter

"FBI"), being duly sworn, do depose and state that:

1. I am a Special Agent of the FBI and have been employed as such since November

2006. I am currently assigned to a squad that investigates violent gangs, criminal enterprises,

and the corresponding criminal offenses that these groups commit, out of the Northern Virginia

Resident Agency of the Washington, D.C. Field Office of the FBI and I have been assigned to

this squad since August 2008. During the course of my participation in criminal investigations, I

have testified in grand jury and trial proceedings.

2. I have attended classes and courses conducted by the FBI and other government

agencies regarding the conduct of various criminal activities by persons and/or groups who are

gang members. I have participated in a number of criminal investigations conducted by the FBI,

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (hereafter "ICE"), and other law enforcement agencies,

which resulted in the arrest of numerous subjects, the recovery of weapons, and the identification

of victims. In addition, as a result of my training and experience, I am familiar with how persons

2
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who are members of violent gangs use various criminal enterprise schemes to conduct their

activities.

3. I have become knowledgeable with the enforcement of state and federal laws

pertaining to gang participation, offenses against persons, and property offenses.

4. This affidavit is made in support of an arrest warrant and criminal complaint

charging that ALEXANDER RIVAS (hereafter "Rivas"), also known as Casper, did knowingly,

in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, obtain,

and maintain by any means a person, knowing, or in reckless disregard of the fact, that the

person had not attained the age of 18 years and would be caused to engage in a commercial sex

act, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591(a)(1).

5. The facts and information contained in this affidavit are based upon my personal

knowledge and information obtained from other federal and state law enforcement officers. All

observations referenced in this affidavit that were not made by me were related to me by the

person who made such observations.

6. Since this affidavit is being submitted for the limited purpose of obtaining a

criminal complaint and arrest warrant, it is not intended to include each and every fact observed

by me or known to the government. I have set forth only those facts necessary to support

probable cause.

7. Rivas is a citizen of the United States of America, and a self-admitted member of

Mara Salvatrucha 13 (hereafter "MS-13"), a violent international gang with members located

across the United States and throughout Central and North America. At present, Rivas resides at

an address in Alexandria, Virginia, at a location known to law enforcement.

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8. On November 9,2010, an Alexandria Police Department patrol officer was

flagged down by a witness (hereafter "Wl") stating that his/her daughter (hereafter "VI") was a

juvenile runaway from Fairfax County, Virginia. Wl suspected that VI was staying at Rivas'

residence. Officers responded to that location and observed VI, accompanied by Rivas, exit the

apartment building. Officers confirmed with the Fairfax County Police Department that VI was

a juvenile runaway and released her to her family.

9. During the night of her recovery, I interviewed VI. At that time, she stated that

she was fourteen years old, in the seventh grade, and attended a middle school in Alexandria,

Virginia. She stated that she ran away from home, initially staying with a friend who goes by the

nickname Lagrimas. According to VI, at four or five in the morning on the day she was rescued,

VI had traveled to stay with Rivas at his residence. VI stated that she first met Rivas at a park

during the summer of 2010. VI also reported that during her association with Rivas she met

another girl who was seventeen years old and goes by the nickname "Gringa".

10. During a subsequent interview, VI stated that Rivas used her as a prostitute

during a time period in or about October 2010. VI stated that Rivas transported her to different

locations in Virginia, Washington D.C., and Maryland to engage in prostitution activities. VI

further advised that she would engage in vaginal sexual intercourse with various male customers.

VI stated that she occasionally used Trojan brand condoms while working as a prostitute for

Rivas. According to VI, she told Rivas that she was 14 years old during the time period she

worked for Rivas as a prostitute.

11. VI was also shown a photograph of Rivas and she positively identified the person

depicted in the photograph as Rivas. VI stated shewould call Rivas by the nickname "Casper."

12. On January 24, 2011, Detective Victor Ignacio of the Alexandria Police
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Department and I interviewed a seventeen year old female (hereafter "V2"). Based on my

investigation, I know V2 is known by the moniker "Gringa." V2 agreed be interviewed and her

mother also consented to the interview. V2 stated that she ran away from home several months

prior and would stay with several friends while on the run. According to V2, Rivas was one of

these friends. She had met Rivas three years prior while they were both locked up at the juvenile

detention center together. V2 stated that Rivas is a member of the gang MS-13 and goes by the

nickname Casper. V2 believes that most of Rivas' friends are also MS-13 members.

13. V2 reported that while staying with Rivas, V2 met VI, who was also runaway.

According to V2, VI told her that she and Rivas had a business together in which VI worked as

a prostitute. V2 also reported that VI told her the money was good and that V2 should consider

doing it also. According to V2, Rivas also explained the business to V2 and how it operated. V2

stated that shortly thereafter, she began working with Rivas as a prostitute.

14. V2 reported that Rivas would receive cellular telephone calls from prospective

prostitution clients and deliver V2 to locations where the clients were waiting. According to V2,

Rivas would make these "deliveries" using his friends' cars and Rivas would wait in the car

while V2 engaged in sexual intercourse and other sexual acts with clients for money. V2 did not

remember all of the specific, geographic places where she engaged in prostitution, but

remembered going to Woodbridge, Fairfax, and Alexandria, Virginia to engage in prostitution.

V2 also recalled that on one occasion Rivas drove her to Maryland to engage in prostitution.

According to V2, Rivas would typically deliver V2 to apartments, but if the clients reserved a

hotel room, she would service clients at hotels as well.

15. V2 reported that Rivas was aware that V2 was under 18 years of age. According

to V2, Rivas would charge the clients approximately $50 and split the proceeds equally with V2.
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V2 stated that Rivas usually collected the money from V2's clients. According to V2, she would

work as many appointments as Rivas would set up and she would work any day of the week. V2

estimated that she made thousands of dollars working for Rivas. V2 stated that Rivas not only

arranged V2's prostitution appointments and transported her to those appointments, but Rivas

also provided food and a place to stay for V2. According to V2, Rivas would basically get her

anything she needed. V2 reported that Rivas always provided the condoms she used while she

worked as a prostitute for Rivas.

16. V2 stated that she worked as a prostitute for Rivas for multiple months during the

late summer and fall of 2010.

17. V2 reported that she observed Rivas carrying a machete with him while he

transported V2 to prostitution appointments. According to V2, Rivas nicknamed the machete

"his wife". V2 recalled one occasion when four of V2's clients did not want to pay full price.

According to V2, Rivas went into the apartment with another male and told V2 to go out to the

car. Shortly thereafter, Rivas returned to the vehicle and had apparently gotten all the money the

four clients owed.

18. On January 4, 2011, Detective Ignacio and I interviewed Rivas. During that

interview, Rivas provided the following information:

(a) Rivas is a member of the Virginia Locos clique ("VLS") of MS-13.

(b) Rivas has two brothers who used to sell beer out of their apartment to members of

the Hispanic community where they lived. As patrons visited their home, Rivas would tell them

that he (Rivas) prostituted girls and subsequently established a prostitution clientele with the

construction workers and illegal immigrants that visited his apartment to purchase beer. After

receiving telephone calls requesting girls, he would deliver prostitutes to the patrons that called
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and collect money from them in exchange for the sexual services provided by the prostitutes.

Rivas would typically charge the prostitution clients $50 and if he did not like the patron, he

would charge more.

(c) Rivas would transport the girls to the prostitution appointments he arranged.

Rivas would use Lagrimas' car to transport the girls, or tell his sister that he was going to work

and borrow her vehicle.

(d) For his prostitutes, Rivas would buy boxes containing 12-15 condoms from the

drug store. Rivas often purchased Trojan brand condoms for use by his prostitutes.

(e) Rivas had up to three girls working for him as prostitutes. Rivas identified V1

and V2 as two of his prostitutes. Rivas originally thought that VI was seventeen years old, but

he later discovered that she was only fourteen.

(f) On any given Friday or Saturday night, Rivas would have approximately 100

clients lined up for his prostitution service. Rivas would tell his clients to tell their coworkers.

Often, Rivas did not personally know all of the clients his prostitutes served. According to

Rivas, the prostitutes typically kept 75% of the prostitution proceeds and Rivas kept the

remaining 25%. Rivas believes that he made approximately $2,000-3,000 prostituting V2 and

that her share was over $6,000.

(g) On one occasion, Rivas brought V2 to a job at a location off of Little River

Turnpike where V2 engaged in sexual acts with three clients. The three individuals refused to

pay for the services. Consequently, Rivas hit one of the guys. When the other two clients started

getting ready to attack Rivas, Rivas pulled out a .45 caliber handgun and robbed the three clients

of all of their money. Rivas stole $1,200 from the three men and even gave them his business

card with his phone number on it. Rivas challenged the three men to call the police to report the
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robbery and said, "Go ahead and call the police. What are you going to say? That you got

robbed after having sex with a minor?"

(h) Rivas would typically charge clients $50 for sexual intercourse with his

prostitutes and told clients that if they brought their friends or more people, he would give them a

discount. One client brought seven of his coworkers from Maryland, and because of that, he got

services for free. Rivas charged the clients $90 each, $60 of which went to the girls. These

particular eight clients traveled to Virginia in white work trucks and got two hotel rooms, with

one prostitute and four clients in each room.

19. Through independent research, I discovered that no commercially available

condoms, including Trojan brand condoms, are manufactured in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

20. Based on the foregoing, there is probable cause to believe that in or about October

2010, in Alexandria, Virginia within the Eastern District of Virginia, ALEXANDER RIVAS

(hereafter "Rivas"), also known as Casper, did knowingly, in or affecting interstate or foreign

commerce, recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, obtain, and maintain by any means a

person, knowing, or in reckless disregard of the fact, that the person had not attained the age of

18 years and would be caused to engage in a commercial sex act, in violation of Title 18, United

States Code, Section 1591(a)(1).

FURTHER THIS AFFIANT SAYETH NOT.

Richard M. Baer
Special Agent
Federal Bureau of Investigation
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Sworn to and deposed to me this _J day of February, 2011.

At Alexandria, Virginia
/s/
Theresa Carroll Buchanan
/""TV United States Magistrate Judge

Honorable Theresa Carroll Buchanan

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE