State’s Attorney charges suburban man with Cook County’s first Labor Trafficking Case

Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced that a Calumet City man has been charged with the county’s first case of labor trafficking for threatening, beating, burning and torturing two mentally handicapped men, while he exploited them for money and often denied them food for several months in an apartment on Chicago’s South Side.

Roy Estivez, 26, has been charged with multiple Class X felony charges including one count of Aggravated Involuntary Servitude, one count of Involuntary Servitude and two counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault. Estivez is the first person charged with labor trafficking under the office’s Human Trafficking Initiative enacted by the Alvarez administration in 2010.

According to prosecutors, beginning in August 2013, Estivez initially rented an apartment to the victims, ages 22 and 23, in Chicago. The defendant conned the victims into turning over their entire paychecks to him directly. Estivez also forced the victims to take on second and third jobs and to work overtime. Estivez took all the money, and the victims did not get to keep any of the proceeds of their labor. Estivez also often denied the victims food and told them they should eat at work.

Prosecutors allege that when one of the victims lost one of his jobs, Estivez began torturing both victims by beating them and whipping them with electrical cords. Estivez also burned both victims on their faces and bodies with a hot knife, which he would heat over a flame. Additionally, the defendant would sometimes pour hydrogen peroxide over the open wounds, causing additional pain. Estivez also sexually assaulted one of the victims with a power-drill.

The victims were afraid to leave because Estivez threatened to kill them and harm their families. He also told them that he was “mobbed-up” and had police officers on his payroll.

According to prosecutors, on October 20, 2013, one of the victim’s bosses observed visible injuries and the victim told him about the abuse. The victim was taken to the hospital and was treated for burns. The victim never returned to the apartment, however, the defendant tried to find him.

Estivez was arrested by Chicago Police on November 17, 2013. Estivez appeared in bond court today where his bond was set at $500,000 by Judge James Brown. His next court date is December 10, 2013.

The public is reminded that criminal charging documents contain allegations that are not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.