Alexander Villatoro Moreno, also known as Quichi, pleaded guilty on Mar. 10 in federal court in Tampa, Florida, to conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The case involved a scheme that exploited Mexican H-2A workers who were brought to the United States between 2015 and 2017 to harvest fruits, vegetables, and other agricultural products.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about the exploitation of migrant laborers in U.S. agriculture. According to court documents, Villatoro Moreno and his co-defendants operated Los Villatoros Harvesting (LVH), a farm labor contracting company that functioned as a criminal enterprise. They fraudulently recruited Mexican nationals using short-term H-2A visas and misled authorities to secure these visas for their victims.
Workers were charged high recruitment fees and deceived about their pay, hours, working conditions, and reimbursement for expenses. Once in the United States, they were compelled to work long hours—six or seven days a week—for less than legally required wages. The defendants used coercive tactics such as imposing debts, confiscating passports, subjecting workers to poor living conditions, verbal abuse, threats of arrest or deportation, isolation from outsiders, and threats against family members in Mexico.
When officials began investigating LVH’s practices, Villatoro Moreno helped obstruct the investigation by preparing false payroll records and distributing fake reimbursement receipts to make it appear that LVH was complying with legal requirements.
Four co-defendants previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. Bladimir Moreno—Villatoro Moreno’s brother—owned LVH and was sentenced in 2022 to over nine years in prison with more than $175,000 restitution ordered for victims. Supervisors Efrain Cabrera Rodas and Christina Gamez received sentences of 41 months and 37 months respectively; Guadalupe Mendes Mendoza was sentenced to eight months home detention with a fine.
The Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Task Force led the investigation with support from several federal agencies and advocacy groups. The Government of Mexico assisted with Villatoro Moreno’s extradition through its Fiscalía General de la República (FGR). Prosecutors from both the Department of Justice’s Human Rights Section and U.S. Attorney’s Offices handled the case.
Anyone with information about human trafficking is encouraged to contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org for more resources.
