Jhonatan Diaz (left) and Gilberto Garcia (right)
Jhonatan Diaz (left) and Gilberto Garcia (right)

The Lake County Sheriff’s Gang Task Force and Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office Special Victims investigators arrested two men for promoting prostitution on Tuesday in Newport Township.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said that Gilberto Garcia, 22, of the 600 block of East Galena Boulevard in Aurora, and Jhonatan Diaz, 21, of the 38000 block of North Manor Avenue in Beach Park, were actively promoting prostitution at a residence in Newport Township.

On Tuesday, an undercover detective met with Garcia at a residence in the 14300 block of West 9th Street in Newport Township, near Zion. Garcia led the detective into the home and introduced him to two women.

“Garcia gave provided a price to the detective of the cost to commence sexual acts with the women,” Lake County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Christopher Covelli said.

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Garcia and Diaz were both arrested at the scene without incident. Diaz was responsible for answering telephone calls and making reservations for men to have sex with the women for money, according to Sgt. Covelli.

The women were relocated to safe housing, Sgt. Christopher Covelli added.

“Human trafficking investigations are a priority of the Sheriff’s Gang Task Force, and cases like this are exactly why. I am thankful these two women were able to be relocated to safety. I applaud the multi-agency collaboration in this investigation,” Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said.

Diaz and Garcia were both charged with promoting prostitution (class 4 felony). Both remain held in the Lake County Jail on a $50,000 bond. They are scheduled to appear in court on December 5.

Garcia also had an active arrest warrant out of DuPage County for criminal damage to property and an arrest warrant out of Aurora for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

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State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim is asking anybody with information about this case or similar cases to contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.