14 arrested in sex trafficking sting at Gurnee-area hotel
GURNEE - Fourteen men were arrested in a multi-day sex trafficking sting at a Gurnee-area hotel in the north suburbs.
The Lake County sheriff’s office announced the arrests as part of a national operation targeting the consumers of prostitution, known as “Johns,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The sting used phony online ads selling prostitution and directed the men to a hotel in the Gurnee area, where they were arrested by undercover officers, the sheriff’s office said.
“Many of the individuals selling sex are not doing so willingly, a large number are being forced into involuntary servitude,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
In the last decade, the nation-wide anti-human trafficking effort has led to more than 10,000 arrests.
The arrests in the Gurnee-area hotel include the following:
Salvador Vicario, 61, of North Chicago
Salvador Vicario | Lake County sheriff’s office
Gregory D. Paul, 53, of Twin Lakes, WI
Gregory Paul | Lake County sheriff’s office
Carlos Reyes-Velez, 36, of Beach Park
Carlos Reyes-Velez | Lake County sheriff’s office
Mark K. Volpe, 62, of Highwood
Mark Volpe | Lake County sheriff’s office
Steven P. Wilt, 62, of Gurnee
Steven Wilt | Lake County sheriff’s office
Pedro Mendez-Gonzalez, 51, of Waukegan
Pedro Mendez-Gonzalez | Lake County sheriff’s office
Timothy D. Christian, 37, of Waukegan
Timothy Christian | Lake County sheriff’s office
Gustavo A. Cornelio-Garcia, 25, of Zion
Gustavo Cornelio-Garcia | Lake County sheriff’s office
Roger C. Jimdar, 31, of Kenosha, WI
Roger Jimdar | Lake County sheriff’s office
John Powell, 38, of Waukegan
John Powell | Lake County sheriff’s office
Sean A. O’Reilly, 43, of Greendale, WI
Sean O’Reilly | Lake County sheriff’s office
Jay Sawyer, 58, of Glenview
Jay Sawyer | Lake County sheriff’s office
Kyle E. Macgibbon, 59, of Libertyville
Kyle Macgibbon | Lake County sheriff’s office
Gregory J. Mason, 53, of Spring Grove
Gregory Mason | Lake County sheriff’s office