Date: 06-12-2025

Case Style:

United States of America v. Martin Concepcion

Case Number: 19-CR-883

Judge: J. Paul Oetken

Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (New York County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney's Office in New York City

Defendant's Attorney: Bobbi Sternheim

Description: New York, New York criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with sex trafficking a minor.

October 2019, Martin Concepcion met Camilla Rodriguez—a sixteen-year-old runaway—outside of a Bronx bodega.1 Along with his roommates Michael Valdez and Ryan Diaz, Concepcion invited Rodriguez to join them at a liquor store and then come home with them. At their apartment, Concepcion and Valdez served Rodriguez drug-laced alcohol, brought her into a bathroom, and filmed themselves having sex with her. Afterward, Concepcion told Rodriguez that she was “part of the group now.”

Concepcion explained to Valdez and Diaz that Rodriguez was “the bag”—i.e., a way to make money. So that same night, the three men set to work prostituting her. They took explicit photographs of Rodriguez and posted them to a website called CityXGuide.com, with Concepcion drafting advertisements, setting prices, and teaching Valdez and Diaz how to upload content. And they messaged directly with interested parties. By the next night, they had lined up four clients.

A sex-trafficking operation ensued. Each night for three weeks, Concepcion, Valdez, and Diaz prostituted Rodriguez to multiple men. They dressed her in lingerie, taught her to screen for police, and took cash from her after each session. They also advertised Rodriguez as part of a “two-girl special” with another prostitute. In total, they solicited more than a thousand clients.

The operation involved violence. While Rodriguez was with clients in Valdez’s bedroom, Concepcion, Valdez, and Diaz waited in the apartment, armed with a gun. After Rodriguez once escaped to a friend, the group sent her threatening text messages and searched for her on the streets. When Rodriguez gave Concepcion “attitude,” he struck her in the face. For his part, Valdez attacked Rodriguez on multiple occasions.

When Rodriguez first met the group, she claimed to be eighteen. But a woman trafficked with her warned Concepcion that
Rodriguez “looked young.” Separately, Diaz admitted to Valdez that Rodriguez “give[s] me young vibes.” Suspicious of her age, Concepcion and Valdez eventually asked Rodriguez about her “baby face.” In response, Rodriguez confirmed that she was only sixteen. Still, the operation continued.

On October 21, 2019, Concepcion and Valdez used an Instagram livestream to flaunt cash earned from their trafficking.
While playing with a gun, Valdez accidentally shot Concepcion’s hand. Injured, Concepcion left the apartment and never returned, ending his formal involvement with the operation. But Valdez continued the scheme with other co-conspirators and remained in contact with Concepcion.

Early in November 2019, Rodriguez attempted another escape. But Valdez found her on the street and forced her back to the
apartment, where he beat her and threatened to shoot her. For the next several days, Valdez locked Rodriguez inside his bedroom, making her urinate into cups.

On November 7, 2019, law enforcement agents found Rodriguez swollen and bruised. On November 8, Valdez texted Concepcion to “lay low” because “feds ran up in my crib[] . . . for that lil bitch.” Appellee’s Br. at 8. Two days later, officers arrested Valdez and Diaz. But Concepcion remained a fugitive for the next eleven months, until his arrest in October 2020.

Outcome: Affirmed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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