Sex Trafficking2002
United States US
For many years, 5 Seattle men, 1 man from Portland, and a man and a woman from LA lured young women from Asia with the promise of a better life in the US, only to make them sex slaves in 3 brothels in Seattle and 1 in Portland. The women were brought from all over Asia - China, Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand - and had no idea they would be forced into prostitution. The 5 men from Seattle are: Jonny Cong Wu Phui Dang Shek Yu Ng De Qin Zhang He Qingping The woman from LA, Yuen Lam, is accused of supplying women to brothels nationwide, as well as the three discovered in Seattle and one in Portland. The prostitution ring would move the women between cities about every other week; the women were never allowed to leave the brothel, except when changing locations. The brothel at this location (Vantage Park Apartments) was run by Wu, and security camera tapes that show about 20 customers per day; the going rate was about $120 per visit at all three brothels. Ng ran another brothel on 31st Ave South, near SeaTac Airport. Zhang and Qingping ran another brothel in the Jeffrey Apartments, 167 11th Ave - about a block from the Vantage Park apartments.
Sex Trafficking2011
United States US
Convicted pimp Anthony "Mack" Terry was sentenced to 20 years in prison April 29, 2011. Terry, whose defense was that he was a drug dealer, not a pimp, was convicted in March 2011 of two counts of promoting the commercial sex abuse of a minor, second-degree promoting prostitution, and witness tampering. King County Superior Court Judge Beth Andrus had just handed down the 20-year prison sentence when the courtroom phone rang. On the line was the teenage victim Terry had pimped out and later asked to lie for him in a series of recorded phone calls he made from inside the King County Jail. "I just want to say I was never a victim, and Anthony Terry was never my pimp," said the woman, whose call was put on the Court's speaker phone. The woman was 18 at the time of the sentencing but was 17 when Terry was twice arrested for pimping her out. Judge Andrus had already heard the woman's denials during Terry's bench trial, but apparently found them unpersuasive. In March 2011, Judge Andrus found Terry guilty of two counts of promoting the commercial sex abuse of a minor, second-degree promoting prostitution, and witness tampering. During closing arguments in March 2011, Prosecutor O'Donnell played a series of recorded phone calls between Terry and the 17-year-old, in which Terry can be heard directing her to post photos of herself online to make money to bail him out and pay for an attorney. O'Donnell also held up a screen shot of Terry's MySpace page, which bore the words "pimp in action."
Forced Labor2023
United States
Micronesian couple brought an 18-year-old relative to the US with promises of education, then forced her into domestic servitude and hard labor while withholding her documents. Accused: Edk Kenit and Choimina Lukas of Longview, Washington.