You are reading

Jackson Heights woman charged with forcing transgender victim into prostitution on Roosevelt Avenue: DA

A Jackson Heights woman is accused of forcing a transgender woman to prostitute herself along Roosevelt Avenue and later threatening her with a knife when she wanted out. Queens Post file photo

Nov. 22, 2024 By Bill Parry

A Jackson Heights woman was indicted by a Queens grand jury for sex trafficking a transgender victim on Roosevelt Avenue starting in October 2023.

Valezka Echeverrias, 30, of 80th Street, was arrested by the NYPD on Thursday, Nov. 21, pursuant to the indictment. She was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court later in the day on a 24-count indictment charging her with four counts of sex trafficking and other related crimes for allegedly forcing a transgender woman to engage in prostitution along the Roosevelt corridor and pay the defendant a weekly sum of money.

After the victim stated that she wanted to stop engaging in prostitution, the defendant allegedly demanded money at knifepoint. Echeverrias is also indicted on charges of grand larceny, robbery, and other crimes for attempting to extort a second victim and forcibly stealing the phones of both victims while threatening them with a knife.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone remanded Echeverrias into custody without parole.

According to the indictment and investigation, in October 2023, Echeverrias forced the victim to pay a weekly sum of cash while engaging in prostitution, and a short while later, the victim was forced to pay a daily sum regardless of whether the victim engaged in prostitution.

During the victim’s ordeal, Echeverrias allegedly repeatedly threatened to reveal the victim’s private and personal medical information to clients and release private videos of the victim engaging in prostitution.

In December 2023, the victim told Echeverrias that she wanted out of the forced arrangement. Upon hearing that, Echeverrias allegedly threatened to harm the victim and demanded money. The victim was then told to leave and never come back to the area again.

Last January, the victim was with the second victim, another transgender woman, on Roosevelt Avenue when they were approached by Echeverrias and several other individuals who remain at large.

Echeverrias took out a silver knife from her waistband and threatened to kill both women if they returned to the area. The defendant also allegedly ordered an accomplice to forcibly remove both victim’s phones and throw them into the sewer.

“The defendant is accused of using threats of violence to exploit one victim and terrorize another in an effort to exert her power and line her pockets,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “Sex trafficking is a brutal and degrading enterprise. It is why I created a Human Trafficking Bureau and why we remain fully dedicated to eradicating sex trafficking in our communities.”

Justice Vallone ordered Echeverrias to return to court on Dec. 16. If convicted on the top count, Echevarrias faces a potential maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Flushing man arrested for impersonating ICE agent in visa fraud scheme: Feds

An alleged Flushing con artist was arrested by FBI agents in Brooklyn Friday morning after a federal grand jury indicted him for perpetrating a visa fraud scheme by pretending to be an ICE agent.

Tommy Aijie Da Silva Weng, 49, was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court on Friday afternoon on an indictment charging him with wire fraud, mail fraud, and impersonating a federal law enforcement agent in connection to a scam to defraud an unidentified Chinese citizen who resides in the United States by claiming he could help her in obtaining a green card through an EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program if she invested $500,000 with him for a project to build hotels in California.

Woman’s body pulled from East River near Fort Totten identified as Whitestone resident: NYPD

The NYPD identified the woman whose lifeless body was pulled from the chilly waters off Little Bay Park near Fort Totten on Sunday morning.

Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing responded to a 911 call from a local fisherman who spotted an unconscious body floating in Little Bay along the East River at 11:15 a.m. An NYPD harbor unit brought the body to shore near the Cross Island Parkway and Totten Road, and EMS pronounced her dead at the scene.