Two accused human traffickers are behind bars in Miami-Dade County.
According to court records, 24-year-old Luis Ariel Escalante and 30-year-old Vicenta Polanco smuggled two Cuban women into South Florida and forced them into prostitution.
At their first court appearances Wednesday, Polanco asked for house arrest instead of jail so she could be home with her husband and child.
"I've been in this country for so many years, I never committed any crimes, I never gotten even a ticket," she said through a Spanish interpreter. "This wasn't true, and it was probably a misinterpretation."
Judge Mindy Glazer ordered both suspects jailed without bond.
The two women went to police, Monday, when the suspects refused to return their passports and other legal documents until they paid off their smuggling debts of up to $12,000, according to the arrest reports.
They told investigators they were promised jobs as exotic dancers but were turned to prostitution expected to service up to five clients per day seven days a week, the reports stated.
Luis Ariel Escalante and Vicenta PolancoPhoto: Miami-Dade Corrections