His sentencing is scheduled for August 20. He faces 67 years in prison and $2
million in fines.
Armando Garcia, defense attorney for Melchor, would have liked the jury to
believe that Melchor did facilitate prostitution for women witnesses, but
little did he know about the women's background.
On Tuesday, a woman from Guatemala testified that Melchor took her and another
woman to trailer homes and an apartment in Tallahassee in July last year to
have sex with multiple men.
Thursday, witness Raul Lopez testified that he contacted Toti, whom he later
identified as Melchor for prostitutes.
Prosecutor Corey Smith presented a case that Melchor was part of a
sophisticated organization that lured women from Central and South America to
Florida with the promise of high-paying domestic jobs only to turn them into
sex workers.
Garcia argued that Melchor's involvement was separate and that Smith's argument
was far reaching.
"He's not a smuggler; he's a pimp," Garcia said.
It's like connecting the seller of a $20 piece of crack cocaine sold on the
street to a cartel in Colombia, Garcia said.
It wasn't enough to sway a jury. They deliberated for only less than three hours.
