Just before the Sept. 25 search of the Collington address, an undercover detective went to the door. Silot answered, documents state, and said, "Business is closed. The girls are tired."
When they searched the house, police found it sparsely furnished but outfitted with closed-circuit video cameras trained on the exterior. Two bedrooms held "large quantities of condoms and personal lubricants." The living room, police said, had been transformed into a waiting area with magazines and business cards for the house.
Police arrested the women and Silot, who, police said, was trying to flee to a shed in the backyard.
When questioned by detectives, the women "spoke freely, stating that they had left Mexico after contacting a female in the Honduras" by telephone. The woman told them whom to contact in America for work as a prostitute.
They traveled to Durham, where they were "eventually picked up and transported to Baltimore," court documents say.
Federal rather than local prosecutors often take cases of suspected human trafficking, but "they can't take everything," Lombardi said. "We need to have lots of legal options to deal with trafficking."
Last year, the state strengthened its human trafficking statute for child prostitutes, changing it from a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum sentence of 10 years to a felony with a 25-year sentence.
But for adults operating prostitution rings, the charge is pandering, a misdemeanor. "It is a glaring, glaring gap in our law," Lombardi said.
After they were arrested, the women gave detectives other details about the operation. Each woman posted a $150 cash bail to leave jail, and Silot secured a $15,000 bond, court records show.
Lombardi, who is not prosecuting this case, said, "Generally, what happens is that when the women are released, they're gone."
