Seven people have been indicted in federal court on charges connected to a forced labor and alien smuggling scheme that authorities say ran for more than two years, bringing victims into the United States and coercing them into work through force, threats, and abuse. The defendants are identified as Freddy Alberto Gomez Urena, also known as “Chun Chun,” Ligia Zulay Gonzalez Sanchez, Josue Reinaldo Cordoba Somasa, Narkys Doralddy Gomez Urena, Miguel Eduardo Cardenas Perez, Wualter Alexander Castellanos Bermeo, and Franklin Alexis Contreras Carrillo.
The indictment, filed as Case No. 1:26-cr-00182-GPG, charges six of the seven with one count of conspiracy to provide and obtain forced labor along with multiple counts of forced labor and alien smuggling, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The seventh defendant, Contreras Carrillo, faces a single count each of forced labor and alien smuggling. In a post on X, FBI Denver announced the indictments Wednesday, noting the case followed a joint investigation with the Colorado State Patrol.
Federal prosecutors allege that from around October 2021 through December 2023, the defendants conspired to obtain and provide human labor through force, threats, and abuse, while illegally bringing victims into the country for commercial advantage and financial gain. The case is being prosecuted by the Transnational Organized Crime and Money Laundering Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado, following the joint probe by the FBI Denver Field Office and the Colorado State Patrol. Key details, including the specific industries where victims were allegedly forced to work and the total number of victims identified, have not been made public.
What the Charges Could Mean for the Defendants
The statutes underpinning the case carry steep potential penalties. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1589, obtaining forced labor through force, threats, or physical restraint carries a statutory penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison per count, a term that can rise to life imprisonment in cases involving aggravated circumstances, according to legal analysis from Black & Askerov. Separately, alien smuggling committed for commercial advantage or private financial gain under 8 U.S.C. § 1324 carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each person smuggled, per the Department of Justice's criminal resource guidance. As with any federal indictment, the charges remain allegations, and all seven defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Labor Trafficking's Place in Colorado's Broader Crime Picture
The case lands amid renewed scrutiny of human trafficking trends statewide. A February 2026 report by the Common Sense Institute, using FBI data, found Colorado recorded 88 human trafficking offenses in 2024, ranking 13th highest nationwide after a record 107 offenses in 2023. The same analysis showed commercial sex trafficking accounted for 79% of the state's human trafficking offenses in 2025, though involuntary labor trafficking remains a persistent, if smaller, category of crime across Colorado.
State law gives the Colorado State Patrol a specific mandate to pursue these cases. Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-3-505 requires a dedicated division within the agency tasked with investigating human smuggling and human trafficking, working alongside the statewide Human Trafficking Council, according to Justia Law. That statutory structure is part of why the State Patrol was positioned to join FBI Denver on this investigation.
A Familiar Pattern of Exploitation
Denver municipal officials have previously described how labor trafficking operations in the region tend to target foreign nationals, manipulating them into unsafe working conditions through document confiscation, unpaid wages, and threats of deportation, as Hoodline reported in coverage of a Denver trafficking awareness rally. That earlier reporting also detailed the Denver DA's Human Trafficking Unit and survivor resources offered through the Denver Police Department.
This latest indictment adds to a string of Colorado enforcement actions against forced labor networks. Hoodline previously examined how trafficking creeps into suburbs using data from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and separately reported on a Las Vegas-based case involving Vivint recruits who alleged their promised jobs turned into a forced labor arrangement prosecuted under the same federal statutes. Investigators have not said whether additional co-conspirators or international network links remain under active federal investigation in this Colorado case.
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