Domestic ServitudeArchive 2008–2016

Domestic Servitude in Aspen Hill, Maryland (1999)

A domestic servitude case from 1999 in Aspen Hill, Maryland, United States.

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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

On November 29, 1999 Satia and Nanji were arrested. Their arrest led to the arrest of Satia's sister, Vivian Satia, and her husband, Etiondem Daniel Achamorfaw. Vivian and her husband admitted to not only helping to lure R.O. into the United States, but bringing another Cameroonian girl, Christina Elangwe into the U.S. as their own domestic servant. In December 2001, Louisa Satia and Kevin Nanji were convicted of holding the victim in involuntary servitude, conspiracy to bring an illegal immigrant into the United States, and haboring the victim for their personal finanical gain. Satia was also convicted of passport and marriage fraud after documents revealed her involvement with arranging marriages for American men and Cameroonian women and producing fraudulent passports. Both Satia and Nanji were sentenced nine years in prison and ordered to pay their victim $105,306, an approximated sum of what the couple owed the victim if she had been paid about $12 an hour. The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Department of State. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mythili Raman and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Seth Rosenthal.

Response and intervention

On November 26, 1999 R.O. ran away from the couple's apartment without shoes or a coat to a nearby Kmart where she telephoned a friend of Nanji's whom she trusted. After hearing about R.O. from another Cameroonian domestic servant, Casa de Maryland, a nonprofit immigrants' rights organization, contacted her and represented her in court. After R.O. escaped her enslavement, she was put into foster care and began applying for citizenship in the United States. She was represented in court by Casa de Maryland. Casa de Maryland. On November 26, 1999 the victim escaped servitude and contacted a person in the community whom she trusted.

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Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

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Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking2007

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Lloyd Mack Royal III, also known as “Blyss”, “B”, and “Furious” is a 29 year old male who, "preyed upon vulnerable minors and prostituted them by a variety of deplorable means for his own benefit” (Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force). He was convicted on March 24, 2010 of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking; sex trafficking of a minor; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence; conspiracy to distribute drugs; and distribution of drugs to persons under 21, related to a scheme to prostitute three minor females.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016