The Provincial Court of Las Palmas has sentenced the former owner of a brothel in Costa Teguise to two years in prison for a crime against the rights of foreign citizens. The trial was scheduled for this Wednesday, but the hearing has finally not been held, since the accused has acknowledged the facts and has accepted the Prosecutor's request for a sentence, so the Court has proceeded directly to issue a sentence.
In its resolution, the Second Section of the Provincial Court considers it proven that Rita de Cassia Do Nascimento "operated a prostitution and bar business called Club 55 since 2004" and located in the Nautical shopping center in Costa Teguise. "This business was nourished, among others, by foreign girls from Brazil in a precarious economic situation and whose arrival at the club and stay in Spain was facilitated by the defendant, after the girls had previously contacted the defendant, either directly or through family members or friends."
According to the sentence, "once she had agreed with a girl to grant her a place in the Club, and to facilitate her arrival and stay in Spain, with the sole purpose of working for her", the accused "proceeded to make letters of invitation before a notary, sometimes using her husband Benedicto Cabrera Tejera, to avoid arousing suspicion among the Spanish authorities".
She kept 50 percent of what they charged
In addition, "she bought the plane ticket from Brazil to Lanzarote, since the girls, due to their precarious economic situation, could not afford it; and she provided cash as a travel allowance with which the girls could justify their stay in the country to the customs agents at the airport in Spain." Likewise, the defendant, "to facilitate the girls' stay in Spain, also provided them with accommodation in an apartment, which she herself had rented in Costa Teguise, charging them a sum of money for it."
With all this, according to the Prosecutor's accusation and acknowledged by the defendant, she "obtained substantial profits from the exercise of prostitution, since she received 50 percent of all the services performed by the girls, which ranged between 180 euros and 100 euros per sexual service and between 20 euros and 200 euros per drink and bar service."
At least one of those affected has been a protected witness in this case, which was stopped between January 2010 and July 2013, despite the fact that the investigation was concluded four years ago and the opening of oral proceedings was agreed. Due to this delay, the penalty has been reduced by applying the mitigating circumstance of undue delays.
In addition to two years in prison, the accused has also been imposed the accessory penalty of special disqualification during the term of the sentence and the payment of court costs.
