Quote Originally Posted by Catty1 View Post
California man pleads no contest in selling of daughter for $16,000

By The Associated Press

SALINAS, Calif. - A California man accused of selling his 14-year-old daughter into marriage for $16,000, beer and meat has pleaded no contest to felony child endangerment.

Martinez went to police to get his daughter back because payment wasn't made.
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Father pleads no contest in arranging the marriage of his 14-year-old daughter



A man accused of arranging for his 14-year-old daughter to marry an adult neighbor faces deportation to Mexico after pleading no contest to felony child-endangerment charges Monday.

Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, who initially pleaded not guilty, had faced 10 years imprisonment and deportation, said Deputy District Attorney Cristina Johnson. A judge will sentence 38-year-old Martinez to three to five years of felony probation in May, Johnson said.


Martinez and cases of beer, soda and wine for the reception. Police later backed away from the human-trafficking allegation when they realized that marriages between teenage girls and adult men are common in Triqui culture. Those unions are often sealed by gifts.

case is a convergence of multiple layers of misunderstandings," said Honorary Mexican Consul Blanca Zarazua. While the court has access to interpreters and people who can help explain the U.S. legal system, police in the field do not have access to the same support in many cases, she said. On Monday, the day that jury selection was slated to start in his trial, Martinez spent more than two hours with translators and attorneys reviewing the implications of changing his plea.
Whenever I hear stories like this I always think about the Blues Brothers and the scene where they go into a swanky restaurant to recruit one of the old band members to perform again.

I always picture John Belushi leaning over to the other table of diners and asking the male at the table who is dining with his family and saying, "The women, how much for the women?"