July 2, 2026
Mexican National, Alexander Villatoro Moreno Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy Involving the Forced Labor of Mexican Workers
On March 10, 2026, Alexander Villatoro Moreno, age 53, pleaded guilty in federal court in Tampa, Florida, to conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Between 2015 and 2017, Villatoro Moreno and his co-defendants fraudulently recruited Mexican nationals on H-2A agricultural visas through their farm labor contracting company, Los Villatoros Harvesting (LVH). An investigation conducted by The Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Task Force, which included the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, found that LVH misled U.S. government agencies and operated as a criminal enterprise forcing victims to work in Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia, and North Carolina. Villatoro Moreno, obstructed the federal investigation by preparing false payroll information to hide underpayments to workers and issuing fake reimbursement receipts, to make it seem that LVH was complying with travel expense laws.
In reality, Villatoro Moreno and his co-defendants charged workers exorbitant illegal recruitment fees to work and lied about pay rates, work hours, working conditions, and the reimbursements workers would receive. Workers were forced to perform long hours of physically demanding agricultural labor, six to seven days a week. Workers also received far less pay than they were entitled to according to the law. Additionally, Villatoro Moreno and his co-defendants threatened and coerced workers by imposing debts, seizing their passports, and forcing them into crowded, unsanitary living conditions. They also verbally abused and humiliated workers, and warned workers that they would be arrested, jailed, and deported if they did not comply with Villatoro Moreno and his co-defendants’ demands. Lastly, the workers were told if they failed to comply, their families in Mexico would be harmed. Essentially isolating the workers from anyone other than LVH employees.
Villatoro Moreno’s four co-defendants previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. Bladimir Moreno,Villatoro Moreno’s brother and owner of LVH, pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and conspiracy to commit forced labor. LVH supervisors, Efrain Cabrera Rodas and Christina Gamez, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, while a different LVH supervisor, Guadalupe Mendes Mendoza, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation. In 2022, Bladimir Moreno was sentenced to 118 months in prison and ordered to pay over $175,000 (appx. $3,060,846.25 MXN) in restitution. Rodas received a 41 month sentence and Gamez received a 37 month sentence in prison. Mendoza was sentenced to eight months of home detention and a $5,500 (appx. 96,204.57 MXN) fine.
Resources for human trafficking
Any person with information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.
Would you like to contact CDM?
If you believe that you have faced discrimination at your job in the United States, call Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc (CDM).
You can reach CDM at 800-590-1773 (from Mexico) or at 1-855-234-9699 (from the U.S). Our office hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, from Monday to Friday. CDM can help you understand your rights for your job in the United States, including options on how to protect yourself from potential retaliation by your employer.
CDM’s Social Media: @cdmigrante
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Credit: AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
Farmworkers harvesting beans, Nov. 18, 2013, in Florida City, Florida