A Lawton, Oklahoma man has admitted in federal court that he helped move three minors into East Texas hotel rooms where they were forced into commercial sex, prosecutors say. The girls were taken from Lawton to Dallas and then on to Tyler, where investigators say the exploitation unfolded behind closed doors. The defendant, 44-year-old Rolando Alexis Bravo, pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge.
Plea Entered In Tyler Federal Court
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, Bravo pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to transport minors, entering his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Nicole Mitchell in Tyler. The charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison. However, the actual punishment will be set by the court after it reviews advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
How Prosecutors Say The Scheme Worked
Citing federal court filings, KLTV reports that on November 16, 2023, Bravo drove three minors from Lawton to Dallas. There, a co-conspirator took over, transporting the children to Tyler and securing hotel rooms that were then used to sexually exploit them. Those court records form the backbone of the federal case and Bravo’s plea.
Investigators And Project Safe Childhood
The U.S. Attorney’s Office notes that the prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative focused on combating the sexual exploitation of children, according to the office's press release. The FBI and the Tyler Police Department led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alan Jackson and Emil Mikkelson are handling the case in court.
What Comes Next For Bravo
Bravo now faces a potential maximum sentence of life in prison, with the exact term to be determined after a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office and at a formal sentencing hearing, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas. Prosecutors have not released any information about the minors’ identities or current circumstances, which is standard practice in cases involving children.
Part Of A Broader Crackdown In North Texas
Federal and local agencies have been ramping up joint operations to find and recover missing and exploited children across North Texas. Previous multiagency efforts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have located dozens of minors. In one such earlier operation in the Dallas area, more than 30 children were recovered, according to CBS News Texas.
With Bravo’s guilty plea now on the record, prosecutors are expected to focus on the sentencing phase and any steps tied to the larger investigation. Authorities say they intend to keep working with partner agencies to find and dismantle networks that profit from exploiting children.
