CSEC2005
United States US
Willoughby, Shope and Huskey were among 31 people linked to four child prostitution rings in Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Eric Willoughby, 40, pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiracy and interstate transportation of minors for prostitution. Co-defendants Brandy Shope and Jennifer Huskey pleaded guilty to the same charges and were both sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison. A fourth defendant, Richard Lamar Gordon, was sentenced to 5 years for transportation of a minor for prostitution. A grand jury in Detroit charged the defendants in December 2005 with forcing two Toledo girls, 14 and 15, into prostitution in May of that year. The girls were held for 10 days in Michigan, where they were taken to hotel rooms for prostitution. Willoughby assaulted the girls and forced them to engage in sex acts while Shope and Huskey collected money from patrons, Murphy said.
CSEC2005
United States US
A man accused of running a prostitution ring recruited girls younger than 18 - once paying $600 for a 17-year-old girl - and moved them from state to state for his business, a federal grand jury said in an indictment. Franklin Robinson, 36, of Toledo, Ohio, was arraigned Tuesday on a seven-count indictment after being arrested in Michigan, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod in Harrisburg. Polaris Project | P.O. Box 77892, Washington, DC 20013 | Tel: 202.745.1001 | www.PolarisProject.org | Info@PolarisProject.org © Copyright Polaris Project, 2007. All Rights Reserved. 57 He pleaded not guilty to charges that include three counts of transporting minors across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity. Authorities said Robinson, using such aliases as Michael Tucker, "Silk" and "Silky Red," has run prostitution rings in at least 10 states since 2001: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland and Tennessee, as well as Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, he allegedly brought two girls from Toledo to work as prostitutes in Harrisburg, the grand jury said. The indictment also claims he recruited prostitutes from Georgia, Ohio and New York and brought 12 prostitutes from Toledo to work in Harrisburg in March. Court records say Robinson wired more than $3,500 related to his prostitution activities from the Harrisburg area to Ohio and Indiana, or from Indiana to Ohio, in 2001. He is quoted in the indictment telling someone that he once beat a prostitute so badly his hands swelled up, and with threatening to cut the throat of a man he thought was causing trouble for one of his girls. Zubrod declined comment on the case. Robinson's lawyer, Heidi R. Freese, said she has spoken with Robinson - who is being held without bail at the Dauphin County Prison - since being appointed his lawyer earlier in the week. "All I can tell you at this point is it appears to be a complicated case," she said Friday.
CSEC2005
United States US
In total, 10 people were charged with violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), for counts of conspiracy to commit forced labor, forced labor, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens. The leader, Medrano, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit forced labor, eight counts of forced labor, one count of alien smuggling, and eight counts of harboring illegal aliens. The bars owned by Medrano where the victims worked are: El Paisano Bar and Nightclub at 509 22nd St. Union City, El Puerto del la Union I at 6710 Bergenline Ave. Guttenberg, and El Puerto de la Union II at 3806 Bergenline Ave. Union City. Lourdes Rosales Martinez, Zenia Zunilda Martinez, and Nancy Floridalma Rosales Martinez recruited the victims in Honduras, and were charged with counts of conspiracy, forced labor, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens. Jose Arnaldo Isuala-Meza and Elsa Consuelo Isuala-Meza smuggled the victims to the US, and were charged with conspiracy, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens. Noris Elvira Rosales Martinez, Ana Luz Rosales Martinez, Jose Dimas Magana, and Rosalba Ortiz were charged with conspiracy, forced labor, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens.
Sex Trafficking2005
United States US
In total, 10 people were charged with violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), for counts of conspiracy to commit forced labor, forced labor, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens. The leader, Medrano, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit forced labor, eight counts of forced labor, one count of alien smuggling, and eight counts of harboring illegal aliens. The bars owned by Medrano where the victims worked are: El Paisano Bar and Nightclub at 509 22nd St. Union City, El Puerto del la Union I at 6710 Bergenline Ave. Guttenberg, and El Puerto de la Union II at 3806 Bergenline Ave. Union City. Lourdes Rosales Martinez, Zenia Zunilda Martinez, and Nancy Floridalma Rosales Martinez recruited the victims in Honduras, and were charged with counts of conspiracy, forced labor, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens. Jose Arnaldo Isuala-Meza and Elsa Consuelo Isuala-Meza smuggled the victims to the US, and were charged with conspiracy, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens. Noris Elvira Rosales Martinez, Ana Luz Rosales Martinez, Jose Dimas Magana, and Rosalba Ortiz were charged with conspiracy, forced labor, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens.
Sex Trafficking2005
Canada CA
"In 2005 Michael Ng was the first person to be arrested and charged under Canada’s human trafficking laws after two Chinese women escaped from his massage parlour in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and called the police claiming they had been brought from China and forced into prostitution. One of the women testified that she worked from 11:00am to 2:00am in order to meet her financial obligations to Ng. “In one year and five months I [made] him well over $100,000 plus the $50-an-hour he charged customers for a massage”. Ng was cleared of human trafficking, but found guilty of a number of related offences instead, including operating a common bawdy house, helping create false travel documents and procuring a person to have illicit sexual intercourse with another. In April 2008 he was sentenced to 15 months in jail. The Chinese women returned to China at their request, but came back briefly to Canada to assist in Ng’s prosecution." http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/octip/identifying.htm
CSEC2005
United States US
A 15-year-old girl was prostituted to eight different customers during a five-day kidnapping ordeal in which she was forced into prostitution in downtown streets, Honolulu police said. Jason Smith, 22, allegedly threatened to kill the girl and her family and told her who to solicit for sexual favors and how much to charge, police said in a court affidavit. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Dec/10/ln/FP512100317.html
CSEC2005
United States US
“The Ringleader” Luisa Medrano charged with one count of conspiracy to commit forced labor, eight counts of forced labor, one count of alien smuggling and eight counts of harboring illegal aliens. The "Recruiters" These defendants located pretty, young females from villages near Olanchito, Honduras, telling them they would be working in a restaurant in New Jersey. They allegedly handled them off to the smugglers. Those defendants are each charged in this Indictment as follows: • Lourdes Rosales Martinez, 33, of Tejeras, Honduras, in custody in Honduras, charged with one count of conspiracy to commit forced labor; two counts of alien smuggling. • Zenia Zunilda Martinez, 56, of Tejeras, Honduras, in custody in Honduras, charged with one count of conspiracy; four counts of alien smuggling. • Nancy Floridalma Rosales Martinez, 34, of Olanchito, Honduras, in custody in Honduras, charged with one count of conspiracy; four counts of forced labor; 10 counts of alien smuggling, and four counts of harboring illegal aliens. The Smugglers or "Coyotes" • Jose Arnaldo Isuala-Meza, 23, of Sonaguera, Honduras (among others not named in the Indictment). The alleged lead "coyote," he smuggled groups of Honduran girls to the U.S.-Mexico border. While traveling with the girls, Isuala-Meza allegedly raped some of them, and, in at least one instance, left a 14-year-old alone in the Mexican desert, when she scratched him and fought while she was being raped. Isuala-Meza is being sought in Honduras. He is charged with one count of conspiracy and seven counts of alien smuggling. • Elsa Consuelo Isuala-Meza, 44, of Houston, Texas (Jose Isuala's sister), met some of the girls in Houston and arranged for their transportation to the New York area. An arrest warrant is outstanding for Isuala-Meza; she is charged with one count of conspiracy; seven counts of alien smuggling and two counts of harboring illegal aliens. The "Enforcers" These defendants imposed the rules and work on the victims, collected smuggling fees and were responsible for much of the abuse as described in the Indictment. • Noris Elvira Rosales Martinez, 29, of Union City, arrested in February 2005 in Tennessee, remains in custody. She is charged in the Indictment with one count of conspiracy, 10 counts of forced labor, seven counts of alien smuggling and 10 counts of harboring illegal aliens. • Ana Luz Rosales Martinez, 37, of Union City, arrested in January 2005 in New Jersey, remains in custody. She is charged in the Indictment with one count of conspiracy, nine counts of forced labor and seven counts of harboring illegal aliens. • Jose Dimas Magana, 40, of Union City, arrested in February 2005 in Pennsylvania, remains in custody. He is charged in the Indictment with one count of conspiracy, 10 counts of forced labor, four counts of alien smuggling and 10 counts of harboring illegal aliens. • Rosalba Ortiz, 34, of Union City, arrested today. Ortiz is charged in the Indictment with one count of conspiracy, six counts of forced labor and four counts of harboring illegal aliens. Charges and Penalties Count One: Conspiracy to Commit Forced Labor Offenses, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Counts Two through Eleven: Forced Labor, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Counts 12 through Twenty-One: Alien Smuggling, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Counts 22 through Thirty-One: Harboring Illegal Aliens, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Sex Trafficking2005
United States US
Fricman Alexander Ramirez (24) Carlos Castillo Rodriguez (37) German Garcia (43) Maria Adelfa Letrado (57) (madam of the ring) Aztlan Jaimes Santana Rolando Hernandez *both Santana and Hernandez told the judge in their hearing that they did not understand that their actions were wrong. The judge said that he could possibly have understood this if they had only been in America for a couple of months. They had been here over 7 years.
CSEC2005
United States US
John "Big John" Butler 47, William "Pookie" Hornbeak 34, Jamine "Fresh" Lake 27, Kristen "Princess" Land 28, Andre "Dre" McDaniels, Ronnie "Pimpin" Presley 35. Presley is from Wichita KS. All have now been arrested. Presley evaded authorities several times, including after being "cornered" but was finally arrested in Aug. Presley would kidnap victims at gun point on the streets of Wichita KS and take them to Houston. He threatened their families and would beat them up regularly. The traffickers have been charged with "a hefty load of federal crimes, including sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force and the transportation and coercion of minors". http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/largest_prostitution_ring_hous.php
Domestic Servitude2005
South Sudan SS
The victim’s village in southern Sudan was attacked by an Arab militia. They killed all the men, stole all the animals, and captured all the women and children. After walking for a full day, the ten year old female victim was sold or given to a man named Bak as his slave. She did Bak’s housework and cared for his animals. She was never allowed to play. If she got tired, she was beaten and called “black slave.” When she was 20, her master raped her. The next morning, she hopped on a truck without the driver’s knowledge and escaped. She ended up in the next town, but was afraid she would be sent back into slavery since she stood out as different from everyone around. Finally she saw a black man and confessed to him that she had run away from slavery. He bought her a bus ticket to Khartoum. Not realizing where she was, she looked for her family, but did not find them. Constantly afraid of being sent back into slavery, she married the brother of a man she knew. Two years later, the couple escaped to the United States.
CSEC2004
United States US
United States v. Boehm, et. al. (Alaska). On March 19, 2004, an 18-count indictment was returned against Josef F. Boehm, charging him with conspiring commit sex trafficking of children, possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Boehm pled guilty on November 22, 2004, to child sex trafficking and drug charges. As part of the plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit his residence and also to provide $1.2 million in a trust fund for the future benefit of the victims. Boehm was sentenced on May 10, 2005, to 11 years and 3 months of incarceration to be followed by five years’ supervised release.
Forced Labor2004
China CN
Ying was immprisoned in China for her involvement with the Falun Gong organization, currently recognized as a terrorist/subversive group in the country. Ying was incarcerated at both the Tuanhe Prisoner Dispatch Center where she was forced to labor packaging "large quantities of chopsticks" and cosmetics. She was then transferred to the Xin'an Female Labor Camp where she wass forced to make a number of different products ranging from sweaters to stuffed animals to slippers. Inmates were forced to work, Ying said, from early morning until midnight or later. Ying was forced to room with more than a dozen people in a cell about twelve sq. meters in size and with only 8 bunks. They were forced to eat, drink, sleep and use the toilet in the room. She also noted that as a form of punishment, female prisoners were often forced outside in the winter naked until they lost consciousness from the cold. All of the above information is from "To Plead Our Own Cause" by Dr. Kevin Bales and Zoe Trodd - Cornell University Press - 2008.
Sex Trafficking2004
United States US
Prostitution ring busted By Sara Jean Green Seattle Times Eastside bureau Chinese army deserters, frequent-flier sex workers, massage-parlor madams and even a customer with diplomatic immunity were among the players swept up in a Bellevue prostitution bust, which could lead officials to similar rings in cities across the country. Bellevue police released details of the prostitution investigation yesterday, more than three months after the first of two Bellevue massage parlors was raided. Nine people — three men and six women — were arrested on suspicion of prostitution, money laundering and forgery. The investigation by Eastside detectives and federal agents was kept quiet until now to give officials time to investigate connections with other cities, said Bellevue police spokesman Michael Chiu. In December, Bellevue police and a host of state and federal agencies began receiving phone calls and letters from legitimate massage therapists who complained of strangers coming to them and requesting sex acts in exchange for generous "tips," Chiu said. The complaints prompted detectives with the Eastside Narcotics Task Force and agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to launch an undercover investigation. Two businesses — Dragon Springs, at 13251 N.E. 20th St., and Heaven & Earth Massage, at 10224 N.E. 10th St. — were put under surveillance and police followed the business operators to their homes, Chiu said. After a three-week undercover investigation, detectives raided Dragon Springs on March 11, arresting two female workers, both illegal immigrants from mainland China, along with the owner and madam, Chiu said. Six weeks after the Dragon Springs bust, Eastside detectives raided Heaven & Earth Massage on April 22 and arrested five people, including two men who apparently had deserted China's People's Liberation Army, Chiu said. So far, one man, the 35-year-old owner of Heaven & Earth Massage, has been deported to China, said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle. Immigration proceedings are under way against a 33-year-old Portland man and a 44-year-old Bellevue woman, but Winchell declined to comment on the status of their cases, except to say both have "bonded out" of custody. Except for two women who were arrested and released, the other people who were arrested were booked into the King County Jail and later posted bail. Two of the nine people arrested are U.S. citizens, Chiu said. Three women were arrested on suspicion of prostitution, a misdemeanor charge; the others could face multiple felony charges, including permitting prostitution, promoting prostitution, money laundering and forgery, he said. No charges have yet been filed. Police not only raided the businesses but searched the main players' homes and seized bank accounts, netting close to $90,000, Chiu said. Expensive cars and boats, thousands of dollars in cash, and so-called "little black books" containing phone numbers of contacts around the country were also seized, he said. Officers also found evidence that the people in charge wired significant amounts of money overseas, Chiu said. In both cases, detectives discovered that sex workers were flown to Seattle and immediately shuttled to the massage parlors; the women would perform sex work for two or three weeks before flying to a new location, Chiu said. The women, who had to pay their own airfare, weren't allowed to leave the parlors and, at Dragon Springs, they were even locked in, Chiu said. Both parlors operated in the same way: When a customer arrived, the customer would pay a $60 massage fee to the "house" and then "tip" the female worker — usually between $40 and $100 — in exchange for sex acts, Chiu said. Immigration officials are still trying to determine how a number of the people arrested arrived in the U.S. in the first place, said Winchell, the ICE special agent. "Human trafficking in the sex trade is alive and vibrant, particularly in the Northwest," Winchell said. Investigators don't believe the female workers busted in Bellevue were sex slaves. Their participation in the sex ring was more akin to "voluntary indentured servitude," he said. As for the men who frequented Dragon Springs and Heaven & Earth Massage, Chiu said they're not off the hook for their conduct. That is, he said, with one exception: Police don't have authority to arrest one man, who has diplomatic immunity. Chiu didn't know what country the man is from. "The customers of these massage parlors might possibly be contacted by police later on — they should be looking over their shoulders," Chiu said. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20040618&slug=prostitution18e
Child Labor2004
Burkina Faso BF
What is known about the trafficker? 30 victims of child traffickers between the ages of 8 & 17 were rescued on the border between Mali and Burkina Faso. The traffickers were two men of Bukinabe nationality living in Mali and posing as traditional healers. They convinced the parents of the youngsters to allow them to go to Mali to study the Koran, which is a common practice in the area.
Child Labor2004
United States US
Mariluz Zavala and her husband Jose Ibanez recruited and smuggled over sixty Peruvian nationals (including children) to the US. The couple charged a smuggling fee that ranged from $6,000 to $13,000, and found the victims work, forcing them to then give them all their wages earned each week. The couple used the money to purchase real estate and pay their own living expenses. The victims were forced to work in Amityville, Brentwood, and Coram, New York.
Forced Labor2004
United States US
Mariluz Zavala pleaded guilty (November 5, 2004)of forced labor; conspiring to recruit, harbor, transport, house undocumented workers; engaging in extortionate credit transactions and transferring false alien registration cards of 69 Peruvians. Zavala and Jose Ibanez (co-defendent/husband) sheltered these immigrants into one house with squalid & cramped living conditions, 13 of who were minors, and used the earned money of the workers to pay for the mortgage of their three houses. They forced the victims to pay $6,000 to $13,000 for their smuggling fees.
Bonded Labor2004
United States US
Trans Bay Steel Corporation (Napa County California) received a large sub-contract to provide services to retrofit the Bay Bridge and became the sponsoring employer for the workers. Trans Bay contracted with Kota Manpower Co., and Hi Cap Enterprises, Inc., to bring 48 skilled welders from Thailand using H-2B seasonal working visas to meet the needs of the project. While Kota and Hi-Cap brought over approximately 48 welders from Thailand, only nine of them went to work for Trans Bay. The remaining welders were brought to Los Angeles and Long Beach and forced to work without pay at Thai Restaurants owned by Kota Manpower and Hi-Cap; all 48 were not paid for their work. . Additionally, some workers were confined to cramped apartments without any electricity, water, or gas.
Bonded Labor2004
United States US
Trans Bay Steel Corporation (Napa County California) received a large sub-contract to provide services to retrofit the Bay Bridge and became the sponsoring employer for the workers. Trans Bay contracted with Kota Manpower Co., and Hi Cap Enterprises, Inc., to bring 48 skilled welders from Thailand using H-2B seasonal working visas to meet the needs of the project. While Kota and Hi-Cap brought over approximately 48 welders from Thailand, only nine of them went to work for Trans Bay. The remaining welders were brought to Los Angeles and Long Beach and forced to work without pay at Thai Restaurants owned by Kota Manpower and Hi-Cap; all 48 were not paid for their work. . Additionally, some workers were confined to cramped apartments without any electricity, water, or gas.
Sex Trafficking2004
South Korea KR
One woman ran away, and the club owners contacted her mother, asking her to "pay for damages" and threatening to prosecute the girl for breach of contract. The mother contacted the Filipino Migrants Catholic Church in Seoul, which helped her complain to the South Korean police. That night, the police raided the clubs.
Forced Labor2004
United States US
Mariluz Zavala pleaded guilty (November 5, 2004)of forced labor; conspiring to recruit, harbor, transport, house undocumented workers; engaging in extortionate credit transactions and transferring false alien registration cards of 69 Peruvians. Zavala and Jose Ibanez (co-defendent/husband) sheltered these immigrants into one house with squalid & cramped living conditions, 13 of who were minors, and used the earned money of the workers to pay for the mortgage of their three houses. They forced the victims to pay $6,000 to $13,000 for their smuggling fees.
CSEC2004
United States US
Josue Flores Carreto, Gerardo Flores Carreto, and Daniel Perez Alonso were involved in the Carreto family sex trafficking ring. The three admitted that between 1991 and 2004 they recruited young women from Mexico to come to the U.S. The victims were smuggled to New York City where they were forced to work as prostitutes in brothels. The victims were physically and verbally abused. The victims were forced to perform several sexual acts each day, at the date of $25 to $35. Half of the amount earner went to the owner and manager of the brothel, and the other half was taken by members of the Carreto organization.
CSEC2004
Australia AU
Law enforcement received a tip-off regarding the website and arrested the parents. The mother plead guilty to 62 offences and the father to 41 offences. She was sentenced to 13 and 9 years gaol time and he to 10 and 7 years gaol time for the crimes of procuring the prostitution of their daughter; and maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with their daughter, respectively. They will be eligible for parole after four years and three years, respectively.
Bonded Labor2004
United States US
In a federal lawsuit, Typhoon! was alleged to have illegally classified the couple as exempt from overtime laws; worked them an average of 10 hours a day, six days a week, without overtime pay, for more than four years; made them perform the Klines' household chores and errands; and threatened to have them deported if they left their jobs. Once the two cooks quit Typhoon!, Steve Kline notified U.S. immigration authorities that the two chefs were no longer in compliance with the terms of their employment visas--called "E-2" visas--granted by the INS. Two weeks after quitting Typhoon!, the two chefs were arrested by the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service at Portland International Airport, where they had taken their baby in order to send him back to Thailand. The two chefs were held in the INS lockup from Dec. 12 to 16.
CSEC2004
United Kingdom GB
A young man befriended the 16 year-old girl in Lithuania, where he introduced her to his “friends” at a nightclub. They offered her an exciting, all expenses paid, ‘Sport’s Trip’ to London. She forged a permission letter from her parents, and the men took her to Sheffield where she was sold – they confiscated her ID card which proved she was 16. She was then sold to four/five Albanian brothers (ages 21, 22, 32, 33) who were operating a brothel in Hounslow, London. They told her she had to work to pay for the cost to transport her from Sheffield to London. The brothel operated 24/7 and the girls were given one day off a week. Girls were told that they would receive a share of their profits once the debt had been paid off. She was given a fake name and was allowed to make occasional phone calls to her family in Lithuania, but was too frightened to tell them about her situation. The gang also occasionally sent £100 or so, which the prosecution argued was to imply that the girl was doing well in the UK. The girl reports that she was forced to sleep with as many as 10 men per day, and earned her traffickers around £800 per day. She received no money.