A man charged in connection with a human trafficking and illegal dentistry case in Lyon County is now in jail for another set of potential charges.
Edwar Joharly Benavides Salgado, age 24 of Emporia, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of flee and elude, interference with law enforcement and operating a vehicle without a valid license. Formal charges and further details are pending.
Benavides-Salgado is set for a preliminary hearing July 7 on single counts of identity theft, identity fraud, making false information and dealing in false ID documents as part of the human trafficking and illegal dentistry case that went public in mid-May. Meanwhile, Rigoberto Sandoval-Sandoval, the alleged dentist, and co-defendant Ana Figueroa have not had court appearances rescheduled after they allegedly failed to appear for hearings and subsequently had warrants issued for their arrests in early June.
Several co-defendants have hearings in early July, including Iris Sandoval-Flores, the lead defendant, who will be back in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing on charges of illegal dentistry, human smuggling, identity theft and dealing in false documents. The remaining defendants have hearings July 9:
*Hugo Cardona-Argueta, age 38 is charged with possession of marijuana, interference with law enforcement, making false information and identity theft.
*Martha Lopez-Alvarado is charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, making false information and identity theft.
*Francisco Pichardo-Machado, age 53, and Martin Pichardo-Machado are both charged with making false information, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Authorities say illegal activity in this case dates back at least to January 2024. As part of a redacted affidavit, Emporia Police investigators say they talked with somebody who accused Sandoval-Flores of selling the person false documents at a cost of around $800 for the purpose of working in the United States. The investigation also led to word of an unlicensed dentist operating out of Sandoval-Flores’ house — as well as the person paying $160 for a filling and dental cleaning. Following a search warrant, which included the presence of dentistry equipment and furniture, officers say they found three fake identification cards, a Social Security card and two small notebooks containing Social Security numbers, names, addresses, birthdays, phone numbers and email addresses.
