Bonded Labor2011
United States US
Omelyan Botsvynyuk, 52, and Stepan Botsvynyuk, 36, were convicted October 12, 2011 of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in connection with a human trafficking scheme. Omelyan was also convicted of one count of extortion. From the fall of 2000 through the spring of 2007, the brothers conspired to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity by operating a human trafficking organization which smuggled young Ukrainian immigrants into the United States and then forced them to work for the brothers with little or no pay. The defendants promised the victims they would earn $500 per month with free room and board by working for the Botsvynyuk organization. Once the workers were smuggled into the United States, the brothers confiscated the immigration documents, then put the victims to work on cleaning crews in retail stores, private homes, and office buildings without paying them. The brothers used physical force, threats of force, sexual assault, and debt bondage to keep the victims in involuntary servitude. The brothers also threatened violence to the workers’ families who still residing in Ukraine. One female worker was brutally raped on several occasions by Omelyan. Prosecutors described the defendants as the "enforcers" of the enterprise in America, while brothers in the Ukraine served as recruiters. The recruiting was easy, given the lack of economic opportunity, they said. Omelyan Botsvynyuk was acquitted of similar charges at a trial in the Ukraine. The Botsvynyuks housed the victims in deplorable conditions and insisted they work for years until they pay off smuggling debts of $10,000 to $50,000, according to the indictment filed last year. The workers were moved frequently throughout the mid-Atlantic, where they said they often spent 16-hour days cleaning stores, offices and supermarkets. Some escaped despite the threats, prosecutors said. Authorities have said the retail stores were unaware of the situation, because they hired cleaning crews through contractors."I think every business should know who's working for them, but this is a common practice in all large businesses, they use subcontractors to hire workers," said Asst. U.S. Atty General Daniel A. Velez. Velez said he hoped the verdict would lead to more prosecutions of human-trafficking cases in the United States. The Botsvynyuk crews cleaned WalMart, Target, Kmart, Safeway, and other retail stores, along with homes and offices in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New York and New Jersey. Juror Joe Higgins, a Teamsters Union trucker from Northeast Philadelphia, said: "They (stores) should check into what kind of contractors they're using to clean their stores. Do a little bit of digging, and make sure they're not using illegal aliens," said Higgins, 53. "Just because it's cheapest, it's not (always) right." The two defendants were indicted with three other brothers: Mykhaylo and Dmytro Botsvynyuk are awaiting extradition from Canada; Yaroslav Botsvynyuk is reportedly dead.
Sex Trafficking2006
United States US
A syndicate held girls as sex slaves by forcing them to work off tens of thousands of dollars of debt they had accrued for phony documents and transportation to the U.S., the feds said. Investigators said recruiters in Korea sought out women who wanted to make money to support their families. The recruiters took care of everything, supplying fake immigration documents, passports and visas, and transporting the women to the U.S. A network of transporters drove them to brothels along the East Coast. They were stripped of their identification and phony passports, thus cutting off any chance that they could flee the country. Besides, if they thought about running, the women were warned that they could be handed over to the police - or, worse yet, that their fhttp://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-16694466_ITMamilies in Korea could be killed.
Sex Trafficking2011
United States US
Jeffrey L. Byrd was investigated for recruiting an 18-year-old prostitute and transporting her to New York, and attempted recruitment a 14-year-old into prostitution. Local law enforcement interceded in the matter and arrested Byrd. Byrd was charged with transportation to engage in prostitution; attempted interstate transportation to engage in prostitution; and attempted interstate transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Byrd entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to over 4 years imprisonment; three years supervised release, and was ordered to pay $600.00 in fines.