WOODSIDE — Two brothers were sentenced to prison Thursday for purchasing a woman in 2014, holding her against her will at a Queens motel for a week and forcing her to have sex for money, prosecutors said.
Evan Hernandez, 25, of Corona, met a woman at the Queens Motor Inn on Queens Boulevard in Woodside on April 15, 2014, and gave the woman $200 in exchange for the 25-year-old victim, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office.
He and his brother, 27-year-old Richard Hernandez of Brooklyn, then held the woman at gunpoint at the hotel for six more days, forcing her to have sex with them as well as with numerous other men in exchange for money, officials said.
Evan Hernandez told the victim she needed to work as a prostitute to repay the money he'd paid for her. He posted prostitution ads online using her photos, hit the woman and threatened to kill her if she didn't obey him, the Queens DA said.
The victim was able to get ahold of a client's phone on April 21, and used it to call her mother, who then called 911, officials said.
Evan Hernandez pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and was sentenced Thursday to four and a half to nine years in prison for the charge, according to the Queens DA.
Richard Hernandez, who pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution, will serve three to six years in prison, officials said.
Attorneys for both men did not immediately return calls for comment. The hotel declined to comment.
