Consuelo Carreto Valencia, her two sons and few other relatives made a living from luring or forcing young women and girls from poor communities into prostitution.

The family ran their criminal empire out of Tenancingo, Mexico. They exported women from Mexico to the United States. The smuggled women were then housed in simple apartments in New York.

There, they were forced to have sex in brothels for up to over 12 hours a day, in filthy conditions.

The women did not keep any of the money they made.

According to the New York Times, the sons and an associate kept the women in line using "physical violence, sexual assault, threats of harm, deception, false promises and coercion".

The Valencia business grew from 1991 until a raid in 2004 freed five prostitutes. They revealed their stories and eventually these led to the matriarch's arrest.

She was extradited to the US in January last year and faced 12 counts of conspiracy, sex trafficking and smuggling in the US District Court in Brooklyn.

The 61-year old grandmother pleaded guilty to international sex trafficking.

The New York Times reported that she had reached an undisclosed deal on Tuesday.