CSEC2011
United States US
Beleal Garcia-Gonzalez, 35, of Mission, Texas was convicted Sept. 23, 2010 after a three-day jury trial. He was charged with three counts of sex trafficking, one count of conspiracy to harbor aliens and six counts of harboring aliens. During his September 2010 trial, the jury heard testimony that underage illegal aliens were being forced to work and being prostituted at the El Paraiso Bar in Mission, Texas. Ultimately, agents rescued three girls, ages 14, 15 and 17, working at the bar and being prostituted by Garcia-Gonzalez, the bar's owner. The jury learned that the three minors had been living with their family in Honduras when they were promised a job working at a restaurant making $700 a week in the United States. In court, the girls testified that the defendant spoke to their mother on the phone to make the arrangements. The girls were illegally smuggled into the United States expecting jobs. Instead, they worked at Garcia-Gonzalez' bar making only $120 a week which was deducted from the $4,500 fees they each “owed” Garcia-Gonzalez for being smuggled into the country. Garcia-Gonzalez told the girls that they could make $3 for every beer that a customer bought them and that they could keep any money they made having sex with customers, minus $50 they would have to pay him. The girls began working by selling and drinking beer with the customers. However, they soon realized they were not making any money because Garcia-Gonzalez never paid them. Needing money, the girls turned to the only other option Garcia-Gonzalez had given them - prostitution. Garcia-Gonzalez was charged along with several other co-defendants and who were also sentenced on Tuesday. Cesar Enrique Sarmiento-Mendoza, 33, of Honduras, worked at the bar and was left in charge of the bar when Garcia-Gonzalez was not there. Jenny Beatris Parada-Ponce, 27, of El Salvador, who was a prostitute herself, explained to the girls about prostitution among other things. Sarmeinto-Mendoza and Parada-Ponce each pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking prior to Garcia-Gonzalez's trial. Judge Crane sentenced Sarmiento-Mendoza to seven years of imprisonment; Parada-Ponce was sentenced to six years. Two others were also charged as a result of this ICE HSI investigation. Elizabeth Mendez-Vasquez, 23, of Mexico, and Maria Luisa Vasquez-Garcia, 21, of Mexico, were also charged and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor aliens on Aug. 27, 2010. Mendez-Vasquez was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment
CSEC2011
United States US
Prontiss Houseworth, 18, of Conyers, Georgia was arrrested Friday August 26, 2011 at the Knights Inn on Spring Street in Nashville, TN and charged with four counts of trafficking for sexual servitude, one count of promoting prostitution and a weapon charge for allegedly carrying brass knuckles. Police found four young women — two 18-year-olds, a 23-year-old and a 24-year-old — with Houseworth but consider them victims in Houseworth’s alleged crimes. According to police, the man forced the women to travel with him from Atlanta to Nashville where an undercover officer, responding to the online ad, met two of the women at the motel and made a deal to have sex with them for $180 plus a $20 tip. One of the alleged victims told police Houseworth threatened to kill the women and their families if the women didn’t cooperate with him, calling them “slaves” and saying “the only way that they could leave was in a body bag,” according to a police affidavit. One of the women also allegedly told police Houseworth punched her in the head and duct-taped her hands together and her mouth shut.
CSEC2011
United States US
Investigation by (ICE) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Convicted of conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation of a minor for prostitution. He faced a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.
CSEC2011
United States US
Harry Franklin, also known as “Streets” and “Uncle Stacks,” 27, of the Bronx, N.Y., pleaded guilty on October 26, 2011 before United States Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport, CT to one count of transportation of an individual with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. The charge stems from Franklin’s involvement in an interstate prostitution enterprise that included the sex trafficking of two minor victims. According to court documents and statements made in court, Franklin facilitated the transportation of a woman and also a girl, who was 14-years-old at the time, from New York to Connecticut so that they could work in a prostitution business that Theodore Briggs was running out of an apartment in Norwalk, Conn. In pleading guilty, Franklin admitted that, in November and December 2010, he and others transported the woman from Connecticut to New York to engage in prostitution. He also admitted that he facilitated the transportation of the minor victim across state lines to engage in commercial sex acts. On October 25, 2011, Theodore Briggs, also known as “PeeJaye,” pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of an individual under the age of 18 with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
CSEC2011
United States US
James Mozie, 34, was found guilty by a federal jury on December 20, 2011 of all charges against him in United States v. James Mozie. After a 5-day trial, the jury found defendant Mozie guilty of all ten counts in the indictment, including sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Mozie was also convicted of production of child pornography. At trial, seven different victims, many them runaways at the time they met Mozie, testified that they worked or were recruited to work as prostitutes at Mozie’s residence, which he advertised as “The Boom Boom Room.” According to the trial evidence, The Boom Boom Room, also known as Lot 29, operated for more than a year as a house of prostitution. Mozie advertised the business through the use of mass text messages to his contacts letting people know about the activities at the house each night. When customers arrived, they paid a cover charge to the security guard working the front door. The victims, many of them minors, worked in the house dancing for tips and engaging in sexual activity with male customers for money. Seven victims, all minors when the offenses occurred, testified that when they first arrived at the residence, Mozie had them complete an application asking for information such as name and stage name, date of birth, and specifying what sexual acts they were willing to perform. All of the minor victims testified that they provided their correct dates of birth to Mozie, who advised them not to tell customers that they were underage. Several of the minor victims testified that before working as a prostitute for Mozie, he required them to have sex with him as part of their “orientation," which he explained was his way of “testing the merchandise.” They also testified that Mozie would take sexually explicit images of them, which he attached to the text messages advertising the brothel. Co-defendant Laschell “Shelly” Harris pled guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor and was sentenced on November 16, 2011 to 13 years in prison. Co-defendant Willie David Rice pled guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to four years in prison.
CSEC2011
United States US
Stormy Nights was a large-scale child prostitution investigation focused on the interstate prostitution of children at truck stops and call services nationwide. These individuals were charged with transportation of an individual with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; aiding and abetting; transportation of person under age of 18 with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; promotion, management, establishment, or carrying on of any unlawful activity; sex trafficking of children; coercion of a person under age of 18 to engage in sexual act; felon in possession of a firearm; interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering; and money laundering. Sentences for these individuals ranged in length up to 17.5 years.
CSEC2011
United States US
Michael Simmons, Stephanie Gease, and Deshonqua Strait were all convicted in relation to a case of child prostitution. Simmons was found guilty of transporting a child from PA to CA and sentenced to 17.5 years. Gease, was sentenced to 8 months for purchasing a bus ticket and escorting the child to the bus station. Strait was sentenced to 12 months for training and supervising the child.
CSEC2011
United States US
James Russell Ashley, 46, of Augusta, Georgia, and Wayne Allen Ginnis, 28, of Seattle, Washington, were indicted August 24, 2011 by a federal grand jury in Pocatello, Idaho, for transporting a minor in interstate commerce with intent to have sexual activity with the minor, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Ashley was arraigned August 24, 2011 in United States District Court in Pocatello. He entered a not guilty plea to the indictment. The case is set for trial on October 18, 2011, before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge. As of August 2011, Ginnis was in state custody in Texas and had not yet appeared on the indictment. The indictment alleges that on or about May 2, 2011, Ashley and Ginnis purchased bus tickets for two girls, ages 12 and 13, both from Pocatello, Idaho to travel to Hollywood, California, with the intent to engage in sexual activity with the girls. The girls and the men met on an Internet game site and later talked by cell phone.
CSEC2011
United States US
After negotiating with detectives online, or by phone, the suspects traveled to an undisclosed location in Polk County where they offered detectives sex acts ranging from oral sex to intercourse in exchange for cash. The majority of the ads were found on backpage.com.but the ads used by the suspects also appeared on www.Bootytag.com, www.Findhotescorts.com, www.Sipsap.com, and others. Detectives said they were shocked when among those arrested was a 15-year-old. The 15 year old arrived at the undercover location after being contacted by undercover detectives via Findhotescorts.com. Her two-month old baby and alleged pimp remained in the vehicle. Investigation revealed she was 15 years old and a runaway from Chicago, IL. The 15 year old’s alleged pimp, Jonathan Padilla, was identified as a criminal gang member upon his arrest by Gang Unit Detectives and is alleged by a witness to be associated with the Maniac Campbell Boys criminal gang in Chicago.
CSEC2011
United States US
Andrew Fakhoury, 23, of Yonkers, N.Y. Prosecutors said that Fakhoury began forcing young women into prostitution in New York before moving his operation to Rhode Island in October of 2008 to take advantage of a loophole in state law that allowed indoor prostitution, until it was banned in 2009. Fakhoury eventually moved into an apartment in Providence’s Elmhurst section with one of those women and advertised her on Craigslist. So far, four victims have come to light; the youngest was 16 years old, and the oldest was 19. Two of the victims were from Yonkers, one was from upstate, and the fourth was from out of state. All were described as middle class kids with good grades – attractive yet emotionally vulnerable. One victim was promised a job as a waitress in Rhode Island on the beach. Using drugs and abusing the women, Fakhoury and his alleged cohort, Joseph Defeis, celebrated the thug life in several music videos posted on YouTube last year. Fakhoury called himself “Kash” and Defeis was “Jemz,” rapping in videos of them cruising around Providence in a black SUV, flashing fistfuls of $100 bills, and bragging that they were gangsters. With sunglasses perched on his nose and a large crucifix swinging from his neck, Fakhoury bragged: “Tell my lawyer, just eat the case.” A woman gyrated around a stripper pole in another video, as Fakhoury and Defeis rapped: “I keep a couple hos from around my way.” Providence police said the men beat the girls, kept close tabs on their cell phone calls, and treated them like merchandise.
CSEC2011
United States US
Mahendar "Mike" Singh, 40, and his wife, Helen Jean Singh, 22. Both are natives of Sacramento. Mahendar admitted to recruiting teenage females to provide sex services in exchange for money and drugs and to knowing that at least one of the teenagers was a juvenile. Mahendar Singh also admitted that he and his co-defendant(his wife) were able to maintain their victims’ services by providing them with money, clothing, and drugs, promising them a family-like environment, and using and threatening the use of physical force. An affidavit filed in connection with this case alleged that the defendants used an Internet website to advertise their victims and employed cell phones and text messaging to make arrangements with customers.
CSEC2011
United States US
Will Moss forced minors into prostitution, transported them across state lines and controlled them through force and intimidation. Moss repeatedly assaulted and raped them. Moss was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and 10 years of supervision, when and if he is released he must register as a sex offender.
CSEC2011
United States US
Police investigated the hotel on a tip, interviewed the girls, then arrested the couple and put them into a San Mateo jail to await hearing.
CSEC2011
United States US
This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Innocence Lost Task Force, a task force comprised of the FBI, the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County Sheriff. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon is prosecuting the case. Docket #: :11-CR-477 JAM The maximum statutory penalty for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1591 is no less than 10 years in prison, and up to life, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime period of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
CSEC2011
United States US
Hamilton was sentenced August 22, 2011 in federal court in San Diego by the Honorable William Q. Hayes to serve 141 months in custody and 10 years of supervised release following his release from prison based on Hamilton’s conviction for one count of sex trafficking of a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591. Hamilton entered his guilty plea on November 9, 2010.
CSEC2011
United States US
The charges are the result of "Operation Vice Grip," an 18-month investigation spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oceanside Police Department and the Escondido Police Department. Operation Vice Grip focused on prostitution activities orchestrated by members and associates of the Oceanside Crips street gang. According to court documents, in recent years this street gang has focused its for-profit criminal activity on promoting and managing prostitution in San Diego County and throughout the United States. The gang-controlled prostitution spawned a "pimping" subculture that enforced strict rules with consequences for individuals who violated them. In addition, the following agencies provided substantial assistance with the investigation - the U.S. Marshals Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Carlsbad Police Department; the North County Gang Task Force; the Riverside County Sheriff's Department - Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Team; and the San Diego County Jurisdictions United for Drug and Gang Enforcement (JUDGE) Task Force.
CSEC2011
United States US
Theodore Love was arrested on state charges for promoting prostitution. The investigation found six females, two of which were juveniles ages 13 and 17. Love transported the women and children to Las Vegas, Nevada; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles, California, and forced them to work as prostitutes. Love advertised his escort company “The Love Zone” in the Spectator magazine and on the Internet at Eros Guide. Love was indicted federally, charged with sex trafficking of children; and transportation of minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Love pled guilty and was sentenced to over 7 years in prison.
CSEC2011
United States US
The couple was charged with child sex trafficking after officers discovered them at the Travelodge on Airport Boulevard in August with three teenage girls who said they were being held by force as prostitutes, according to police.
CSEC2011
United States US
Tramble first came to the attention of law enforcement in or about August 2010, when Kent Police Department officers encountered a juvenile female working as a prostitute. This victim told police how Tramble beat and coerced her, and how he advertised her as a prostitute on Backpage.com. Further investigation by law enforcement revealed that Tramble forced numerous women to work for him as prostitutes. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Innocence Lost Task Force, which is composed of local, state and federal law enforcement officers who investigate juvenile prostitution. Key assistance was provided by the Kent Police Department.
CSEC2011
United States US
Rances Ulices Amaya, a/k/a “Blue” or “Murder,” 23, of Springfield, VA, was indicted November 23, 2011, on charges of conspiracy and three counts of sex trafficking of a minor. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison for each sex trafficking count and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy. According to court documents, Amaya is a leader of the Guanacos Lokotes Salvatrucha (GLS) clique of MS-13. In June 2009 and throughout the fall of that year, Amaya is accused of conspiring with others to recruit multiple juvenile females to work as a prostitutes and transporting them throughout Northern Virginia for appointments that Amaya had arranged with clients. He is accused of providing the juveniles with alcohol and narcotics to facilitate the prostitution scheme, along with remaining with the juveniles during prostitution appointments to ensure the clients did not violate the rules he had set for the sexual encounter.
CSEC2011
United States US
William Johnson, age 50, also known as “Dollar Bill”, pleaded guilty April 14, 2011 to sex trafficking of a minor between August 2010 and September 2010. Defendant admitted to harboring a 15-year-old girl in his home in St. Albans, Queens, between August and September 2010, and having the victim work for him as a prostitute. As alleged in the government’s pleadings, the defendant generated customers for his prostitution business by posting advertisements listed under “erotic services” or “escort services” on Internet websites. The advertisements included photographs of scantily clad women or girls in suggestive poses. The defendant also took live videos of the women and girls engaging in pole-dancing in his St. Albans residence, which could then be accessed online for a fee paid by customers.
CSEC2011
United States US
The cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. The ICE investigation is part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com. The Innocence Lost national initiative of the FBI addresses domestic child prostitution through 39 task forces and working groups around the nation. To date, the 39 Innocence Lost Task Forces and Working Groups have recovered 1,250 children. Both cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurel Moore Lee for the Middle District of Florida.
CSEC2011
United States US
case was investigated by the FBI’s Innocence Lost initiative with the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Agents in Washington, D.C., helped in the recovery of a juvenile victim.
CSEC2011
United States US
case was investigated by the FBI’s Innocence Lost initiative with the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.