Sex Trafficking2001
United States US
On November 24, 1999, Reddy and a group of his employees were spotted carrying the unconscious body of a 17-year-old girl into a van, and trying to force an 18-year-old girl in as well. Marcia Poole, a passing motorist, stopped the kidnapping and alerted the police who came to the scene, but Reddy managed to resolve the situation, by claiming that the unconscious girl was the daughter of one of his employees. The 17-year-old and her 15-year-old sister, who had been lying in a nearby stairwell, had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning in a Reddy-owned apartment and were taken to nearby Alta Bates hospital, where the 17-year-old was pronounced dead. The police accepted Reddy's explanation of an accidental death, but the Berkeley High Jacket, the student newspaper of nearby Berkeley High School, found it odd that the girls had not been attending school. Reporters Megan Greenwell and Iliana Montauk dug into the case and broke the story, exposing a web of criminal activity. Reddy had been exploiting the H-1B visa system for years to traffick poor Indian workers into the country as forced laborers. He brought in over 20 immigrants on the H-1B program, claiming that they were computer programmers. In many cases, he had the workers petition to bring in other trafficked workers into the US, claiming that they were family, and backing up the claims with falsified documents. The trafficked workers were generally made to work in Reddy's restaurants and apartment buildings. The two girls, supposed "daughters" of one of Reddy's "programmers," were not only forced to clean Reddy's buildings, but were also his underaged sex slaves. Reddy was sentenced to eight years in prison, required to repay US$2 million dollars, and will be a registered sex offender upon his release. Two of his sons received lesser sentences for conspiracy to defraud the INS as part of plea agreements. Reddy was released April 2, 2008.[1] The Reddy family currently operates numerous apartment complexes in the Berkeley area under the names Reddy Realty and Everest Properties, as well as the Pasand restaurants in Berkeley and Santa Clara.
Sex Trafficking2007
United States US
From Marin Independant Journal, article by Gary Klien http://www.masscops.com/forums/cyber-crime/38889-feds-hit-myspace-pimp-suspect-child-sex-trafficking-charge.html "A 32-year-old man accused of pimping a teenage girl in San Rafael after meeting her through MySpace.com is now facing a federal sex trafficking charge. Melvin Parker Jr., a convicted felon from Richmond, could face 10 years to life in prison if convicted of the federal charge of sex trafficking of children, according to a complaint by the FBI. The federal government has an interest in the case because Parker allegedly enticed the victim, a 16-year-old runaway from Washington state, across state lines through MySpace, a social networking site. Federal law prohibits using "force, fraud or coercion" to get a minor across state or national boundaries to engage in a "commercial sex act." Parker, who was arrested in August, has already been charged in Marin Superior Court with soliciting for a prostitute, pandering, unlawful sex, sale or transportation of marijuana and driving without a license. He has pleaded not guilty." "Authorities said Parker put the girl up at the Economy Inn in San Pablo while making her work as a prostitute in Richmond, Concord and San Rafael." According to SF Chonicle, Parker picked up two girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation. http://www.sfgate.com/flat/archive/2007/10/12/chronicle/archive/2007/10/12/BAHISOPNC.html