CSEC2008
United States US
Most recently, two incidents in the beginning of 2008 brought DMST into the public eye. The first involved the arrest of two minors, one charged with prostitution and the other with compelling prostitution. One of the 13 year old girls was detained for soliciting a date of prostitution from an undercover Vice officer. The CE/HRVTU was notified and an investigation was initiated. During the investigation another 13 year old was identified. The 13 year old who was arrested for prostitution was placed at Letot, a public-private organization that partners with the Dallas County Juvenile Justice Department. The 13 year old later (placed at Letot) told police she was invited to the nightclub and compelled into prostitution by her friend, the other 13-year-old recovered from the nightclub. The second 13-year-old was arrested for compelling prostitution as a result of her actions (Recruiting, Directing, etc.). Reports suggest that an adult associated with the 13-year-old is involved.19 Confirmed through an interview with the DPD, CE/HRVTU an adult female was arrested and charged with Felony Child Endangerment related to the exploitation of both girls. The adult female was the aunt of the 13 year old who was arrested for compelling prostitution.
CSEC2008
United States US
Ms. Abrams and Mr. Bell, the woman and man involved, are being charged on felony counts for sexual performance of a child, as well as organized crime.
CSEC2008
United States US
George Udeozor, 52, formerly of Darnestown, Md., was sentenced today for holding a 14-year-old Nigerian girl in involuntary servitude, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Grace Chung Becker and U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Udeozor to 97 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Udeozor was also ordered to pay $110,249.60 in restitution to the victim. ccording to his plea agreement, in September 1996, George Udeozor traveled to Nigeria and, using the passport of his oldest daughter, smuggled a 14 year old Nigerian girl to his home in Maryland. He and his then-wife, Dr. Adaobi Stella Udeozor, used the girl as an unpaid domestic servant and child care provider for their six children for approximately five years, from October 1996 to Oct. 28, 2001. The victim cooked, cleaned the home, did laundry and took care of the Udeozor children. During that time, the victim was physically abused. The Udeozors did not send the victim to school and did not pay the victim or her family for her work. At times, the victim also worked in Adaobi Stella Udeozor’s medical offices, for which she did not receive compensation. The Udeozors compelled the victim’s labor by inflicting verbal and physical abuse on her, including when she purportedly did not do her work correctly. They threatened the victim with arrest and deportation if she left the home. Additionally, from sometime after the fall of 1997 when the victim was just 15 years old, until the time George Udeozor left the United States in late 1999 to return to Nigeria, George Udeozor had sexual relations with the victim in the Udeozor home. He warned the victim not to tell anyone about those episodes.
CSEC2008
United States US
local vice officers working in Harrison Twp. got tips that a woman had started using her minor daughter in prostitution at local hotels. Undercover officers went to a hotel on North Dixie Drive at East Siebenthaler Avenue at around 8 p.m. Monday, April 21, and contacted a man later identified as Melvin. "The male there acted as an organizer," Plummer (Montgomery County Sheriff's Dept.) said. "He told them which room the girl was in, what services she was good at and how much she charged. He accepted money, and pointed them to the room." The officers arrested Melvin and White. Officers found a small amount of marijuana in their possession, Plummer said.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Leonard Russell recruited two girls from Nebraska to engage in commercial sexual activity, including prostitution, and to perform at strip clubs. The two victims, ages 15 and 16, were runaways and were harbored by Russell. The victims testified that they met Russell in Omaha, Nebraska on August 20, 2007 after they ran away from a juvenile home located in Fremont, Nebraska. They were recruited to help at 19-year old prostitute, named Marcia Ryan. The victims were then transported to Davenport, Iowa, then Rockford, Illinois, and finally back to Denison, Iowa. They were forced to engage in prostitution and perform at strip clubs, one of which was Big Earl’s Key Club in Denison, Iowa. They were forced to give their earnings to Russell and Ryan to pay for their food, shelter, transportation, and clothes. One victim was with Russell for eight days, and the other for 10 days. Investigations showed that they had been advertised on the internet as prostitutes.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
“Prosecutors said [the trafficker] who has used addresses in Sioux City and Omaha, Neb., recruited and harbored two Nebraska girls [in 2007] for commercial sexual activity, including prostitution and performing at strip clubs. They said the girls, ages 15 and 16, were runaways.” (Fox News) “[The trafficker] took the girls to Davenport and Rockford, IL, and back to Denison, IA, over several days, and had them engage in prostitution and perform at strip clubs, including Big Earl’s Key Club in Denison.” (Iowa Attorney General) “An anonymous tip led police to rescue one of the girls at Big Earl's [a strip club in Denison]. The other was put on a bus to Washington, D.C., to meet with Russell's cousin and learn to solicit sex. Police in Washington rescued her there.” “The girls testified that they engaged in prostitution and performed at strip clubs including Big Earl's Key Club in Denison. They said they had to give the money they earned to Russell and Ryan in exchange for food, shelter, transportation and clothing. The teens testified they were ashamed with what they were doing, but they felt they had nowhere else to go. One of the teens was with Russell for eight days, the other for 10 days, officials said. “[The suspect] was found guilty of two counts of human trafficking, two counts of pandering and a count of ongoing criminal conduct during a September trial in Crawford County. [He] was sentenced [December 22, 2008] in Crawford County District Court to 25 years on the ongoing criminal conduct charge, and 10 years on each of the other four charges — with all the sentences to be served concurrently. He was also fined $5,000.” (Fox News)
CSEC2008
United States US
After a two-year-investigation, Denver police said they have busted a major prostitution ring that employed 50 female prostitutes, including children. Investigators found more than $30,000 cash, and the sex trafficking ring was raking in more than $1,000,000 a year since 2005. Police said the ring operated not from Tang's home but from an undisclosed location in Denver. Neighbors noticed that "something" wasn't right with the hours she was keeping. Tang is being held on nine felony counts of pimping, procurement, pandering of a child and keeping a place of prostitution. Police believe she recruited underage girls from other states. Todd Allen Powellis being held in the Denver city jail for investigation of pimping, conspiracy and other prostitution-related offenses.
CSEC2008
United States US
Two Seattle men, Joseph Olive (22) and Turomne Washington (19) coerced two 17-year-old Bellingham girls to work as prostitutes in Des Moines. Police said Olive gave one girl a pair of high-heel shoes and ordered her to make him some money. Washington is accused of telling the other girl to do the same. After earning $50 by having sex with strangers twice, one girl called the mother of the other girl, police said. Court papers say the other girl had sex with about 14 people and turned over all her earnings to Olive and Washington.
CSEC2008
United States US
The FBI and local law enforcement agents orchestrated a nationwide sting. Undercover cops posed as Jons and arrested prostitutes soliciting sex at bars/nightclubs, casinos, truck stops, and Internet sites such as Craig’s list. The sting operations were used to determine whether or not the girls were less than 18 years of age. If so, they were taken into custody and treated as a trafficking victim
Bonded Labor2008
United States US
The trafficker, Maria Terechina, is a 47 year old U.S. citizen who immigrated from the Russian federation. She was described by her lawyers as a “Russian grandmother.” The trafficker worked with co-conspirators who have pleaded guilty to charges of harboring immigrants illegally. The trafficker helped trick hundreds of Eastern European (from Russia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries) women into taking jobs working for hotels in Ohio. She would take the passports and other immigration documents of the women and control their movements. The trafficker would tell the women that they owed debts between $600-$1000 which were taken from their wages and added to the debts by requiring the women to pay for transportation and housing expenses.
Forced Labor2008
United States US
From Chattanooga Times Free Press, July 28, 2008: One of the most recent cases in Chattanooga occurred July 11, when two people were victims of an apparent “coyote” ransom scam, according to Chattanooga police and U.S. Immigration and Custom officials. The victims told police they paid a man to transport them from Valdosta, Ga., to Oklahoma City to search for work. Once they arrived in Oklahoma, they were kidnapped and told their families would have to pay $15,000 for their freedom. They escaped from the kidnapper’s car in Chattanooga, they told police. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/jul/28/chattanooga-smuggling-related-crimes-increase-spre/ http://www.wdef.com/news/human_trafficking_with_ties_to_chattanooga/07/2008
CSEC2008
United States US
Rishi Sanwal, 23 year old. Lived in El Dorado hills with his parents in a multi-million dollar mansion located at 3105 Hopkins Place in El Dorado Hills. On March 18 Kacie was seen entering Sanwal’s maroon colored Hummer outside a Safeway in the Stonegate Village near Francisco and Green Valley roads. Sanwal then used force, fraud, and coercion to cause a 17-year- old girl to engage in prostitution. Sanwal gave the victim the name “Amy” and used that name when he posted ads on the Craigslist erotic services section. He took the victim from El Dorado to the Bay area, before returning to Rocklin, CA and posting another Craigslist advertisement. Then once again they returned to the Bay Area.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Sardar Gasanov, and his wife Nadira Gasanov recruited women from their hometown of Tashkent, Uzbekistan to come to the US with the promise of modeling jobs and the ability to bring their family to the US after them. Sargar is was a research assistant in the Biological Science Department at the University of Texas at El Paso. The couple got J-1 visas for the victims, which stated they were scientists who would be doing research for the University of Texas at El Paso. Once the women arrived, their immigration documents and passports were taken by the Gasanovs, and they were forced to work seven days a week at strip clubs in El Paso. They were forced to work through threats of deportation and threats against their families, which enticed the women to work hard and give all their earnings to the Gasanovs. It is estimated the couple made over $700,000 from their business from 1998-2001.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Honey's, a strip club in Everett, and several other Puget Sound area clubs owned by the Calacurcio family are the focus of a federal investigation into organized crime. Honey,s, Snohomish County's only strip club, according to federal investigators, is a haven for prostituttion, with dancers blatantly offering sex for money and the clubs owners taking kickbacks from the illegal activities. Federal agents and local police raided the clubs owned by Frank Colacurcio Sr. and his son, Frank Colacurcio Jr. Monday morning. No charges have been filed. Instead a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order against the clubs' owners prohibiting them from selling off the clubs or their assets. The freeze is part of a ongoing rackateering investigation that alleges the clubs were run by a criminal enterprise according to court papers.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Jerome Todd of Everett, Washington, is arrest and sentenced to 26 years in prison for pimping. The federal judge ordered Todd to pay nearly $70,000 to 3 women who worked for him as prostitutes. A jury in May had convicted Todd, 29, of numerous federal sex-for-sale crimes, including sex trafficking. Jurors were convinced Todd forced women to sell their bodies as part of an Internet-based prostitution ring.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
Joseph and Evelyn Djoumessi brought the victim, a 14-year old girl from Cameroon, to the U.S. in October 1996 to work against her will as a domestic servant in their home. The victim took care of the couple's children, cleaned the home, and was beaten in make sure she performed her duties. Joseph also sexually abused the victim. The victim worked for the couple until February 2000.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
In the summer of 2005, Mohammad Atahee (then age 33) married a 13 year-old girl in Afghanistan and then brought her back to the US and coerced her into being a slave at homes in Federal Way and Auburn. Atahee is also accused in court documents of beating and sexually assaulting the girl at his Federal Way home. Atahee (now 37) and the Yousuf family (Nasima Yousuf, 70; Mohammad Yousuf, 84; Nahid Yousufi, 29; and Maruf Yousufi, 42) forced the teen to cook, clean and do laundry. For about 18 months beginning in August 2006, Atahee required the girl to "perform all the household chores in his home and restricted activities outside of the home" at 2511 S. 286th Place, Federal Way, WA. During the same period the Yousufis required her to perform all the household chores and care for their children at 28004 33rd Ave. S., Auburn, WA.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Wun and Kyongja Kang promised victims from Seoul a better life in the U.S. and work in their bar “Renaissance Bar & Room Café” in Flushing. The women were told they would have respectable jobs keeping customers company at the bar and pouring drinks. After arrival, the victims were told they each owed Kang a $10,000 smuggling debt and for their rent. The victims were never paid for their work, and their passports were taken. The victims were told they could work of their debt faster if they preformed sex acts for customers. When they tried to escape they were caught and sexually assaulted.
CSEC2008
United States US
David Pierre pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a minor on July 15, 2009 and was sentenced in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on October 22, 2009 before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas to 10 years in prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release as a sex offender Jenna Linden pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a minor on August 13, 2009 and was sentenced in federal court on September 23, 2009 before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas to 5 years in prison to be followed by 3 years
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
74 year old Bernie Hoffman, more commonly known as Tony Alamo, started the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in the late 1990s. The Tony Alamo Christian MInistries have compounds in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Jersey. The Arkansas compound started had 100 followers, and Alamo "preached that young girls made the best wives." Alamo transported five underage girls across state lines for sex. Three out of the five girls openly said Alamo sexually abused them. Among these criminal accounts, since the 1970s Alamo was alleged of "kidnapping, brainwashing, child abuse.."
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
An undercover officer met with Mr. Stump in the Freemont area and had a fairly lengthy discussion on the sale of the child. The terms of it, and the amount involved. Stump paid the officer $500 dollars and arranged to pick up the child later in the day. Officers pulled Stump over on his way home and took him into custody. He told police he intended to take the girl out of state and marry her.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
George Udeozor brought the victim from Nigeria to the U.S. in 1996, when she was 14 years old. The victim was forced to care for Udeozor’s children and perform household chores until October 2001. The victim was physically and sexually assaulted while living in the Udeozor home, and was not allowed to attend school. She was brought to the U.S. on a passport that was not her own, and her family had been promised that she would be paid for her work, and allowed to attend school. She was threatened by Udeozor and his wife, and told that is she resisted she would be sent back to Nigeria.
CSEC2008
United States US
Christopher Coleman, 23, and Murphy Lettleton, 32 The girls were forced into prostitution and were told to do whatever was asked of them, They solicited sex for $50 and $60 for other sexual acts, working mostly in the San Fernando Valley, she said. But the girls mostly spent their nights sleeping in a Glendale hotel room The men kept the girls’ earnings, but they bought the girls shoes, clothes and video games and provided them a place to sleep, Razana said. So they stayed with the men because they were afraid to be alone and sleeping on the streets.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
She is charged with racketeering (class 2 felony), pimping (class 3 felony), tax evasion (class 5 felony), keeping a place of prostitution (class 2 misdemeanor), and promoting sexual immorality (class 2 misdemeanor). She was booked into the Mesa County Jail on a $250,000 bond.