Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
"A man charged with kidnapping and promoting prostitution on Aurora Avenue North served two decades in prison for selling crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of Garfield High School. Additional police documents in the case against Derrick "Vamp" Hargress were released Tuesday. Hargress has pleaded not guilty to first-degree promoting prostitution and second-degree kidnapping. His next court date is Aug. 19. Hargress told a 21-year-old girl he allegedly forced himself upon that he was a Hoover Crip. When Hargress, now 48, pleaded guilty to selling crack and using a firearm while dealing, a federal judge said he would consider lowering his sentence if he wrote a letter warning Los Angeles Crips gang members of the risk of committing crimes in Seattle. "Crip members, wake up and learn from my experience (not the hard way!) that coming to Seattle to sell cocaine isn't wise at all," Hargress wrote in a two-page letter, according to a 1988 P-I story. But prosecutors questioned his sincerity and after Hargress' letter said he is "probably the most dangerous and the most dedicated to crime of the 26 'gang-related defendants' indicted thus far." From 1986 and 1988, Seattle saw an influx of gang members from Los Angeles who were paid more for crack cocaine here than in Los Angeles. Many were members of the Nine Deuce Hoover Crips, a name that comes from the intersection of 92nd and Hoover streets in L.A. A Seattle crack house busted in 1988 showed the graffiti tags of Hargress and other gang members who pleaded guilty to federal charges. Hoover Crips are still a problem in Seattle, but not to the extent seen in the late 1980s, according to police. Hargress was released from federal prison in 2008. Court documents show that year he was convicted of drug offenses, assault and had domestic violence assault convictions in 2009." -seattlepi.com www.seattlepi.com/local/424864_cop11.html?source=rss
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and state and local law enforcement agencies investigated and intervened. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Fortune prosecuted it. U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon sentenced Castiblanco-Hernandez to 10 months in prison and five years of supervised release after completing his prison term. CASTILBLANCO also must register as a sex offender. “Making money off the exploitation and misery of another human being, whether for commercial sex acts or forced labor, is human trafficking and nothing more than modern day slavery,” Vance said. “Prosecuting this type case is how we begin to address the criminal enterprise of human trafficking…” said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Four individuals ran a sex trafficking business out of their home property in Omaha, Nebraska. Merrideth Crane-Horton was described in court records as the "mastermind." Her husband, Edwin Horton, handled the money, while Ramon Heredia, Horton's nephew, provided the muscle. Katherine Heredia worked as a prostitute. The trafficked girls involved were under the age of eighteen, one girl was only thirteen years of age. Two girls, the thirteen year old and a fifteen year old, managed to escape. Girls harbored at this Omaha residence were beaten and threatened to perform sexual acts for pay with their earnings going directly to their traffickers. One woman, now 20, told authorities that Crane-Horton and Ramon Heredia beat her to coerce her into prostitution and to keep her from talking to police. The woman said Crane-Horton would lock her inside a room without heat or lights to compel her to perform sex acts. Katherine Heredia was also working as a co-conspirator as well as a prostitute. She claims to have been subject to violent beatings to “keep [the other girls] in line”. A local expert on human trafficking said it's not uncommon for a victim like Katherine Heredia to become a co-conspirator. "It is very similar to a domestic violence situation," said a member of the Omaha Salvation Army's social services division. "It is somewhat like Stockholm syndrome. After a period of brainwashing and breaking,' you co-opt with your abuser ... and bring into the fold younger people. It is a distorted idea of love."
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
OPELOUSAS, La. (AP) - Chief Deputy Hilman Popillion said that Ronada Fritz allegedly offered her 13-year-old daughter to 51-year-old Percy "Buddy" Stoute as a prostitute for $40. Note: Anyone under 18 used for commercial sex is legally considered a severe victim of human trafficking.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
"A 24-year-old Orlando woman is behind bars after she was caught forcing an Ohio woman into prostitution. It all started 8 months ago when 24-year-old Melissa Ann Scivoletti started talking to a woman over myspace. The woman said Scivoletti told her she could get her a job at an Orlando Walmart. Scivoletti sent the victim a bus ticket from Ohio to Pittsburgh where Scivoletti and a man named "Stay Ready" met her. Shortly after, the victim says "Stay Ready" beat her and forced her to have sex with men for money. She says when she refused "Stay Ready" and Scivoletti threatened her with violence and violence on her family. Eventually, they came to Orlando staying at the Econo Lodge on Orange Blossom Trail, working the streets. A deputy found the victim there along with Scivoletti, watching from a nearby car." http://wdbo.com/localnews/2010/08/woman-forced-into-prostitution.html
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Cui has in recent months posted job advertisements in Korean-language newspapers seeking nail salon attendants. But once the women responded, Cui threatened them, Spota said, at times saying that she would have them or their families killed by Chinese gangsters. Cui also threatened to abandon them penniless on Long Island or tell their families they were prostitutes if they refused to cooperate, Suffolk DA Spota said. As many as eight women, all in their 30s and 40s, serviced dozens of clients a day at a Huntington Station nail salon and an unnamed "spa" near the Hicksville train station. The women performed a variety of sexual services for as little as $60, officials said. Cui got the money, officials said, and the women kept tips. One Craigslist ad earlier this month promised erotic services. Raids at the businesses and Cui’s home, an 8,000-square-foot, Tudor-style house in Flushing, found $20,000 in cash, lingerie, shower massage tables, cases of condoms, baby oil and rubbing alcohol. "There was not a single bottle of nail polish found," said Suffolk police Detective John Rodriguez, who assisted in the investigation. Rodriguez said many of the women — only some of whom have agreed to cooperate in the case — did not speak English and were new to the country. "If you’re from a small village, you don’t know the language, it can be easy to intimidate someone like that," he said. All information found from the following sources: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Queens-Woman-Charged-With-Sex-Trafficking-97407769.html http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/06/29/2010-06-29_queens_madam_forced_young_korean_women_into_lives_of_sex_slavery_in_li_massage_p.html http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/northeast/view.bg?articleid=1264866 http://www.newser.com/story/94221/ny-madam-forced-korean-women-into-sex-slavery.html http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2010/07/have-you-become-a-hooker-today/
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
The trafficker allegedly set up appointments for the victim, a 17-year-old girl, using Myredbook.com. The suspect met the victim when the victim was sitting on a curb in Oakland. She recruited the victim to work as a prostitute, took seductive pictures of the girl, posted them online, and handled all monetary transactions. The suspect was arrested on October 12, 2010 in the Good Nite Inn on Veterans Boulevard as part of a police sting operation.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
After paid sexual encounters in eight states, the woman sought help by calling a national anti-sex trafficking hot line. This led to the arrest of her husband who regularly posted ads promoting her for sex, arranged for her encounters with those who responded to the ads, and demanded that all money she received by immediately deposited into his bank acocunt. Illegally married at a young age, the man threatened that he would take her child away from her forever if she failed to comply.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Randy Chanhmany faces up to five years in federal prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charges against Chanhmany and his co-defendant, Damari Dehan Dontre Anderson, 27, stem from a plan the two men implemented from July through October 2008. The men took photos of two women, published them on the Web site Craigslist and then "drove the girls to various hotels in Utah, so they could engage in commercial sex acts," the plea agreement states. Both men admitted that they also received at least a portion of the proceeds the women made while performing said sex acts.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
The men took photos of two women, published them on the Web site Craigslist and then "drove the girls to various hotels in Utah, so they could engage in commercial sex acts," the plea agreement states. Both men admitted that they also received at least a portion of the proceeds the women made while performing said sex acts.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Most of the defendants were arraigned yesterday in State Supreme Court on Staten Island before Justice Leonard P. Rienzi, who set bail for Mr. Farella at $400,000. He set bail for Mr. Pioppo at $80,000 and for Mr. Galbo at $40,000. Mr. Farella's lawyer, Vincent J. Romano, said he and his client knew about the investigation since the first search warrant in the investigation of the prostitution ring was executed in October 2002. But Mr. Romano insisted that his client's businesses were lawful and that he was unaware that anyone who worked for him was exchanging sex for money. ''It was a business,'' Mr. Romano said. ''It was a legitimate business.'' He said his client ''didn't authorize, force or coerce'' anyone to take part in any illegal activity. ''If it happened, my client didn't know it happened,'' the lawyer added. The women were dispatched from storefront offices in Staten Island and from a Brooklyn apartment and would be dropped off by the limousine drivers, mostly in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, the law enforcement official said. Two women would ride with each driver, and they would work 12-hour shifts, the official said. They carried a device inside the car to make an imprint of customers' credit cards, the official said. At the end of the night, most of the drivers and the women would come together to settle up at a Dunkin' Donuts shop or a diner in Brooklyn, with as many as six of the cars parked outside as the credit-card receipts and cash were counted and the women were given their share of roughly one-third of the proceeds, the official said.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
A woman picked up as part of a Metro police internet prostitution sting claims a south Nashville man coerced her into prostituting herself. The 22 year old victim told police that she met Donnell Minor, 34,in the University Court area of the Tony Sudekum public housing development. She said that the suspect paid the victim's sister $150 to watch her two children and promised to take her to Miami. Instead of Miami, the suspect allegedly took her to a Harding Place motel, told her that she now worked for him, and that he intended to advertise her services on the Internet, according to police. Police said the victim told them she went along due to threats and the fact that Minor knew where she lived.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Police sent undercover officers into the spa as clients. According to the report, the officers were offered sexual acts if they paid. Police also found advertisements for the business online, although it wasn't clear that the advertisements were for sexual acts. Arrested were Min Ye, 37, and Wendy Yao, no age given. No charges have been filed.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Trafficker(s)receieve women from NYC and drives them to NJ strip club.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Police acted on tips of about a prostitution ring, "deputies raided a house on U.S. Highway 301 and found one woman. Information from that raid led them to arrest Chavez at his residence at 2101 Fair Place in Wilson. Two women were found at Chavez's residence, but investigators believe that three or four women lived there, Gay said." http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/6977322/
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
A 19-year-old man charged with "pimping" the services of a 16-year-old girl on the popular Craigslist Web site and forcing her to have sex with him made his initial court appearance yesterday. Advertisement Marcus X. Arrington of Halawa is charged with first-degree promotion of prostitution and second-degree sexual assault. His bail was set at $50,000 and he is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing tomorrow. Also charged with Arrington are Anthony Fuller and Brad Y.K. Young. Both also are charged with promoting prostitution, while Fuller was charged with third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and Young with third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
HTRA conducted an investigation into reports that human trafficking involving prostitution and drug dealing were occurring at La Potra Bar on the 6100 block of Airline in Houston, TX. As a result, all four Honduran nationals were arrested in Oct 2009 and charged by criminal compliant with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. The fourth man from Mexico was charged with Alien Smuggling. All men plead guilty to the offense charged to them, accept the 46 year old male, who committed suicide while in federal custody pending charge for Human Trafficking. In the FBI press release, U.S. Attorney Moreno had this to say about this case: "Often, victims of human trafficking who are forced into prostitution or forced labor are also forced to endure living and working among alien smugglers and drug dealers. This case, in which five defendants were arrest for various criminal offenses, illustrates the dark world within which the human trafficking victims are forced to exist until rescued or until they can escape, but it also demonstrates our continued commitment to rescue the victims and to prosecute not only the human trafficker but other offenders as well."
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Los Angeles Police received a call from Cherise's mother after she called her mother when she was stuck in a hotel room with Green. The case was investigated by the Beaverton police force as well. The Oregon Trafficking Task Force, a group of federal and local agencies also took part in the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin. U.S. District Court Judge Garr M. King was responsible for the sentencing of Green to six years in federal prison and three years of heavy surveillance following the prison sentence.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
The indictment indicates that the FBI was intercepting Mujahid's telephone calls for at least five months. In one conversation, Hooks was overheard asking Mujahid "if there were any new girls with whom he could have sex," the indictment charged. . UPDATE The Anchorage Police Department Vice Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case. They were assisted by agents and detectives from the Innocence Lost Task Force and the Alaska Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office with assistance from the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and the Criminal Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. . The indictment charges: * two counts of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children and by force, fraud and coercion; * two counts of sex trafficking of children and by force, fraud and coercion; * one count of attempted sex trafficking of a child and by force, fraud and coercion; * six counts of promoting prostitution of children; * eight counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; * ten counts of promoting prostitution; two counts of attempted sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; * two counts of possession of child pornography; * one count of sexual exploitation of a child—production of child pornography; * one count of tampering with a victim; * one count of conspiracy to defraud the government–filing false tax returns; and,five counts of identity theft. The 41-count superseding indictment names Mujahid, age 52, Greene, age 38, Marshall, age 21, and Hooks, age 50, as the defendants. Not all of the defendants are named in each count.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
According to United States Attorney Nahmias, the charges and other information presented in court: On February 21, 2009, local law enforcement officers, working in conjunction with the FBI, arrested PRUITT and HARRIS at a hotel in the Atlanta, Georgia, area, after agents arrived at the hotel to investigate possible illegal activity involving underage girls recruited to work as prostitutes. At the hotel, the agents encountered the 17-year old victim, whose photographs the agents had previously seen on an internet website advertising erotic services. The FBI believed that the victim, whose advertisement listed her age as 19 years, was a juvenile. While at the hotel the victim agreed to cooperate with agents and explained that PRUITT and HARRIS brought her to the hotel to work as a prostitute. The victim further explained that, after meeting PRUITT and HARRIS on February 20, 2009, HARRIS took nude photographs of the victim at a hotel that HARRIS then uploaded onto the “Craigslist” internet website. Within approximately 25 minutes, HARRIS began receiving telephone calls regarding the victim’s advertisement. Subsequently, PRUITT and HARRIS allegedly caused the victim to engage in commercial sex acts with approximately 13 men between February 20, 2009, and February 21, 2009. The defendants knew that the victim was 17 years old, but cautioned her to state that she was 19 years old. The defendants kept all of the money earned by the victim. The indictment charges PRUITT and HARRIS with one count of conspiring to commit sex trafficking of a minor, and a second count charging PRUITT with the substantive offense of sex trafficking of a minor. Count One of the indictment carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Count Two carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
A Fulton County jury convicted a 26-year-old Atlanta man Thursday of transporting his 16-year-old first cousin to Metropolitan Parkway for prostitution. Zaccheus Obie, arrested in January, will be sentenced Wednesday for one count of pimping a minor, which could get him as much as 20 years in prison. According to testimony, police learned of Obie after the girl was arrested in May 2008 but he could have been running his operation for as long as four years. He bought her clothes and paid to have her hair done before she was sent to stroll Metropolitan Parkway. Obie took her money, according to testimony. While the case involving his 16-year-old cousin has been resolved, he also is charged with raping the girl’s younger sister, also Obie’s first cousin. That case has not been taken to trial.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
police followed the victim, a minor, to a location where she meet her pimp. he along with the motel manager were arrested.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Agents arrested a 33 yrs old, who was described as an illegal alien who had been deported to Mexico after being arrested in a similar sex trafficking case. Sources said he returned to the US and ran a new trafficking ring that brought in several unwitting women from Mexico to become prostitutes. While in Mexico he began a romantic relationship with the teen and later paid a smuggler to bring her to the US in April 2007.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Chappell (trafficker) was sentenced to 336 months in prison on one count of sex trafficking a minor. "June of 2007, the Bloomington Police Department conducted surveillance at a hotel, where they found four adult women in a room rented by Chappell. Police later learned that Chappell was prostituting both adult and juvenile females, promoting his business through computer ads on the Internet sites CraigsList and Backpage.com." -News Release