14 arrested in sex trafficking sting at Gurnee-area hotel

GURNEE - Fourteen men were arrested in a multi-day sex trafficking sting at a Gurnee-area hotel in the north suburbs.

The Lake County sheriff’s office announced the arrests as part of a national operation targeting the consumers of prostitution, known as “Johns,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The sting used phony online ads selling prostitution and directed the men to a hotel in the Gurnee area, where they were arrested by undercover officers, the sheriff’s office said.

“Many of the individuals selling sex are not doing so willingly, a large number are being forced into involuntary servitude,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

In the last decade, the nation-wide anti-human trafficking effort has led to more than 10,000 arrests.

The arrests in the Gurnee-area hotel include the following:

Salvador Vicario, 61, of North Chicago

Gregory D. Paul, 53, of Twin Lakes, WI

Carlos Reyes-Velez, 36, of Beach Park

Mark K. Volpe, 62, of Highwood

Steven P. Wilt, 62, of Gurnee

Pedro Mendez-Gonzalez, 51, of Waukegan

Timothy D. Christian, 37, of Waukegan

Gustavo A. Cornelio-Garcia, 25, of Zion

Roger C. Jimdar, 31, of Kenosha, WI

John Powell, 38, of Waukegan

Sean A. O’Reilly, 43, of Greendale, WI

Jay Sawyer, 58, of Glenview

Kyle E. Macgibbon, 59, of Libertyville

Gregory J. Mason, 53, of Spring Grove