The then-14-year-old victim was reported missing for more than three days in May 2025 before he was reunited with his family
November 11, 2026 – LOS ANGELES, CA – Brandon Holguin, 27, was sentenced to five years in state prison for human labor trafficking a then-14-year-old La Crescenta middle schooler. He allegedly furnished the victim with Adderall so he could illegally work late into the night preparing hundreds of clothing items for Holguin's online resale business, then abandoned him three days later on a Los Angeles freeway.
“Human trafficking often includes a predator luring a vulnerable child into illegal labor exploitation, as in this case,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. “The defendant, Brandon Holguin, will spend years in prison for his despicable acts of labor trafficking a child, making the child take an amphetamine so he could work all night and cutting off all communications with his family. I’m grateful for Deputy-in-Charge Ryann Gerber Jorban and Deputy District Attorney Alice Kurs of the Labor Justice Unit who swiftly secured justice in this case and held the defendant accountable for the devastating harm he caused to a minor victim, his family and their community.”
“We also thank the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Taskforce for their commitment to this investigation and ensuring justice was served. I also want to recognize LASD Detective Salvador Ponce for immediately identifying this case as labor trafficking, leading to its successful prosecution.”
Holguin (27) pleaded no contest and was convicted on November 9 of one felony count each of human trafficking for labor, child abuse under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death and furnishing a minor a controlled substance, the amphetamine Adderall.
He was sentenced to a total of five years in state prison and ordered to pay $4,300 in restitution for depriving the victim of his possessions. The defendant was ordered to serve his sentence forthwith.
On May 2, 2025, Holguin lured the victim into his car, then trafficked the victim to multiple cities in Los Angeles County. He coerced the victim into giving up his personal possessions, including family jewelry and his cell phone so he could not contact or be located by his family.
Holguin drove the victim to a motel room where he furnished him with the amphetamine Adderall, which made the victim sick, and made him work late into the night preparing hundreds of items of clothing for online resale.
Holguin first met and targeted the victim at a thrift store several months earlier, then contacted him frequently with texts, phone calls and in person with false promises to help him.
On May 5, at approximately 2:00 a.m., Holguin abandoned the victim alone on the side of a Los Angeles freeway. The victim managed to walk off the freeway to a nearby location where staff called 911. The victim was recovered by Los Angeles Police Department officers and reunited with his family.
Case 25PDCF00359 was prosecuted by Deputy-in-Charge Ryann Gerber Jorban and Deputy District Attorney Alice Kurs of the Consumer Protection Division’s Labor Justice Unit and investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
If you are the victim of human trafficking or know someone who is, please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text: 233-733 (Be Free).
Source & photo: Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office