Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
In Lexington County, South Carolina recently, authorities arrested a Batesburg-Leesville bondsman on the charge of forced labor after he was accused of making a woman do sexual favors and work for him in exchange for bail. According to the McClatchy News Service, sheriff's deputies arrested Curtis Jackson Maroney, 51, on charges of blackmail and human trafficking charges, the sheriff's department said.
Child Labor2010
United States US
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Jane W. Duke, and Thomas J. Browne, Special Agent in Charge of the Little Rock Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today that Everett Cooney was sentenced by United States Chief Judge J. Leon Holmes to 90 months' imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release on a federal charge of sex trafficking an underage female. . Cooney’s co-defendant, Tommy Handy, plead guilty to a charge of sex trafficking on October 23, 2009. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the pending indictment was dismissed. Handy’s plea exposes him to a minimum of 10 years' and up to life imprisonment. He is awaiting sentencing by the court. Handy remains in custody pending his sentencing.
Child Labor2010
United States US
Porter and Young ran the place and hired the strippers according to police. Neighbors were surprised by the arrests and describe the Patterson Square center as ‘industrial' and mostly commercial businesses. Undra Gaines works across the street from the club and said when he heard about it he thought it was, "Pitiful, disgusting, the reason why I say that is because minors were involved." Many in the neighborhood knew about the parties thrown there, but say they never thought underage girls participated in the parties. "I've been invited to the place several times, but never did go," said Devin Coleman who works across the street from the ‘Party Room'. He said he thought they were, "‘Grown up' parties, you know what I'm saying ‘grown up parties', I'm being honest with you, that's what everyone thought." The door at 5608 Patterson Road reads, ‘Every Event Help Kids'. The establishment that is right beside the club shows a sign of Porter as the face of a group called "Survivors of Murdered Children". "It's a very difficult situation and in this case it's probably not over yet, we're still investigating, probably more charges are coming," said Little Rock Police Department Spokesperson, Lt. Terry Hastings. Many who worked just doors down from the illegal club said they had no idea a joint like this was in their area. Rick Howell works at an alarm company in the complex and said, "It goes to show you never know what's going on with your neighbors." The owners, Porter and Young face a slew of charges including endangering the welfare of a minor and promoting a child in a sexual performance.
CSEC2010
United States US
Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, stated: “The FBI worked with the Los Angeles Police Department and San Diego Sheriff’s Department to build a successful case that ended Lawson’s abusive activity and resulted in today’s guilty plea. Agents will continue to collaborate with local law enforcement to investigate those who victimize children in this country by trafficking minors interstate and forcing them into lives of prostitution in order to enrich themselves.” The case against Lawson was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department and the San Diego Sheriff's Department. The FBI investigation was conducted by the Southern Central California Innocence Lost Task Force (SOCAIL). The mission of the SOCAIL Task Force is to provide a rapid and effective investigative response to federal crimes involving child prostitution, reduce the vulnerability of children to acts of sexual exploitation, and strengthen law enforcement capabilities through training programs and investigative assistance. The SOCAIL Task Force in Orange County is made up of agents and officers from the FBI, the California Department of Justice and the Anaheim Police Department.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
David Lee Walker Age: 29 Sentenced to 12 years in prison for Human Trafficking and other related charges - May 20, 2011 David Lee Walker, a pimp who operated in the metro Atlanta area, controlled at least five women, all between the ages of 20 and 24. They operated out of Rodeway Inn at Fulton Industrial Boulevard, south of the city. But one night, apparently, one of the girls decided she had had enough and wanted to leave. When Walker wasn't around, she fled to a nearby restaurant - The Varsity - to look for help. But Walker found out, and he ordered the other women he controlled to bring her back to their motel. Walker and the women beat the 21-year-old with a bottle until her eyes swelled shut and there was a hole in her head. Then, one of the women locked her in the dog cage and left her there overnight, with injuries untreated. Five people, including alleged pimp David Lee Walker, are charged with beating the woman until her eyes were swollen shut and she had a hole in her head from being hit with a bottle. The victim was then forced into a 3-by-5 foot dog cage and kept there overnight. Walker sent cell phone pictures of the caged woman to other pimps.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Beleal Garcia Gonzalez lured three Honduran girls, ages 14, 15 and 17, promises jobs as waitresses. For $700 and when they arrived gave them $150 and kept most of that for the smulling fee. They worked in his bar in McAllen, Texas
CSEC2010
United States US
The investigation, a collaboration with FBI agents and ICE agents resulted in the conviction of 11 defendants involved with the Memphis sex trafficking ring. Article link and text below: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/February/08_crt_158.html FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV CRT Three Memphis, Tennessee Men Sentenced for Role in Sex Trafficking Ring WASHINGTON � The Department of Justice announced today that three men from Memphis, Tenn., were sentenced yesterday for their roles in a Memphis sex trafficking ring. Raul Santillan-Leon, Fernando Cortes-Santillan and Cristobal Flores-Angeles all admitted to working at Memphis brothels, and Santillan-Leon and Cortes-Santillan admitted to working at brothels where an underage girl engaged in prostitution. Santillan-Leon pleaded guilty on Jan. 11, 2007, to one count of child sex trafficking and was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment and 10 years supervised release. Cortes-Santillan pleaded guilty on Jan.10, 2007, to one count of child sex trafficking and received a sentence of 41 months imprisonment and 10 years supervised release. Flores-Angeles pleaded guilty on Jan. 4, 2007, to one count of enticing a person to cross state lines to engage in prostitution and one count of money laundering and was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment and three years supervised release. Two additional defendants, Juan Mendez and Cristina Andres Perfecto, both of Nashville, Tenn., have pleaded guilty to two counts of commercial sex trafficking related to their roles in the sex trafficking ring. Perfecto admitted that she recruited two Mexican girls on behalf of Juan Mendez to come to the United States under fraudulent pretenses, knowing that the girls would be coerced into engaging in commercial sex acts and knowing that the victims were younger than 18 years of age. Mendez admitted that he dispatched Perfecto to Mexico to recruit girls under the age of 18 for the purpose of prostitution. Mendez and Perfecto face a maximum sentence of life in prison for their crimes. �The victims in this case were thrust into the brutal and demeaning world of sex trafficking, where they were fed lies, and turned into prostitutes,� said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. �The Justice Department is committed to the vigorous enforcement and prosecution of human trafficking offenses.� �Human trafficking deprives women and children of their dignity and self-esteem,� said U.S. Attorney David Kustoff. �These matters will continue to be aggressively investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney�s Office for the Western District of Tennessee.� Six other defendants in the same case pleaded guilty last year to crimes including enticing an individual to travel in interstate commerce to commit prostitution and failure to file a factual statement about an alien. Human trafficking prosecutions such as this one are a top priority of the Department of Justice.� In the last seven fiscal years, the Civil Rights Division, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorneys� Offices, has increased by nearly seven-fold the number of human trafficking cases filed in court as compared to the previous seven fiscal years. �In FY 2007, the Department obtained a record number of convictions in human trafficking prosecutions. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Parker of the U.S. Attorney�s Office for the Western District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti from the Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case. The investigation was conducted by ICE and the FBI with assistance from the Memphis Police Department. Catholic Charities, the YWCA, World Relief, and the Salvation Army assisted the victims and witnesses in this matter. ### 08-158
CSEC2010
United States US
Army Spc. Craig Allen Corey II, Robert Harris II, Jacob Tyler and Richard Johnson II of Chillicothe, OH ran a drug and prostitution ring from an apartment owned by Corey in Millersville, Md. They recruited 12 girls (willing and unwilling) from Chillicothe, OH(including a 16 year old); Virginia, and one woman from Watertown, NY. Their operation used online venues like Craigslist to market the girls. Corey and the others controlled the girls through beatings, threats, and planned drug addictions (they gave the girls free drugs until the girls became addicted and then began to charge for each “fix” from daily earnings). Tyler and Harris both had guns that were used to threaten the girls. The situation was brought to light when one of the girls (age 19) called her parents saying that her car had been disabled. They contacted local authorities. This in combination with suspicious ads on Craiglist, which were discovered by local authorities, led to further investigation of the Millersville apartment.
CSEC2010
United States US
Richard Carpita, 30, male Anthony J. Brazington, 21, male. The men used Craigslist to solicit prostitution of 5 girls age 16-18 for money and drugs.
Forced Criminality2010
United States US
Current investigation of human trafficking ring
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Naomi Vasquez (31 years of age)was pimping out 3 girls and enforcing an operation run by her boyfriend Derrick Ned. The girls were not allowed to leave and were not paid though compensation was said to have been given through drugs. The appointments with clients were made by Vasquez on an internet site untitled "My Goddess Companion." Vasquez herself is a mother of a few children who fell pregnant at 16 and ended up moving from Hotel to Hotel and becoming addicted to drugs.
Child Labor2010
United States US
Afolabi was arrested in 2007 after a victim told her story to ICE agents. The news article detailing the story is below: http://www.usafricaonline.com/afolabi-trafficking-girls-togo-ghana/ Ms Afolabi convicted in New Jersey for trafficking girls from Togo, Ghana Posted by admin on Oct 24th, 2009 and filed under INSIGHTS, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry New Jersey-based woman convicted for trafficking girls from Togo, Ghana; her lawyer says jury misunderstood culture while prosecutor says it’s violent abuse of teens…. Special to USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston, USAfricaonline.com and CLASS magazine and The Black Business Journal After deliberating less than five hours, a federal jury has convicted a West African woman of running a human-trafficking operation that smuggled girls from Togo and Ghana and forced them to work without pay at hair-braiding salons in New Jersey. Akouavi Kpade Afolabi silently wept and bowed her head as the jury foreman announced she was guilty of all 22 counts, including conspiracy to commit forced labor, smuggle illegal aliens and visa fraud. The once-prosperous jewelry and textile merchant recruited more than 20 girls and young women from impoverished African villages with the promise of a better life in America, authorities said. But once the women arrived, Afolabi forced them to braid hair for up to 14 hours a day at salons in Newark and East Orange in a case investigators equated to modern-day slavery. “The evidence presented at trial revealed that these young women — some as young as 10-years old — endured unconscionable indignities,” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said. “The defendant ruled over her victims with threats, violence, even voodoo curses.” The trial underscored the pervasive problem of human trafficking in New Jersey, where crowded highways, ports and large immigrant communities make it easy to ship and conceal victims, authorities said. During four weeks of testimony, several victims told jurors how Afolabi confiscated their passports, beat them and used a voodoo ritual to frighten them into believing they would go insane if they escaped. They were barred from attending school, learning English, making friends or dating. Several were sexually assaulted by Afolabi’s ex-husband and her son, who have both pleaded guilty. “Why didn’t you run away?” Shana W. Chen, an assistant U.S. attorney, asked one of the victims. “I didn’t know anyone to run to,” said the witness, Sroda Xedagbui, now 18. Afolabi’s lawyer, Olubukola O. Adetula, argued the charges stemmed from prosecutors’ ignorance of West African culture. In essence, he said, Afolabi ran an apprenticeship program, plucking the girls from poverty and teaching them a trade so they could find prosperity in America. She treated the girls, who ranged in age from 10 to 19, as if they were her daughters and imposed the same strict rules found in most Togolese homes, he said. “I don’t think the jury quite got it,” Adetula said. “A lot of what took place was cultural … But I respect the jury’s decision.” Afolabi faces up to 20 years in prison for several of the charges, but prosecutors could argue for more time. U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares scheduled her sentencing for Jan. 21. Her lawyer said he planned to appeal. Afolabi grew up poor in Togo but found success amid the teeming markets of Lomé, the nation’s capitol. She built two compound-like homes in the coastal city’s sprawling neighborhoods, where she ran a virtual “visa-fraud school,” coaching girls to trick embassy officials into believing they were spouses or children of people who won visas through a lottery program, said Nancy Hoppock, deputy criminal chief for the U.S. attorney’s office. Afolabi sat silently through most of the trial, listening to translators repeat testimony in her native language, Ewe. She raised her voice only once, screaming at her ex-husband, Lassissi Afolabi, when he admitted on the witness stand to forcing two of the women to have sex with him. Afolabi began smuggling girls into New Jersey as early as 2002, authorities said. She has been in custody since being arrested in 2007, when a victim told her story to agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. “ICE aggressively targets criminals who exploit or victimize vulnerable individuals who are looking for a better life in the United States,” said Peter T. Edge, head of ICE’s office of investigations in Newark. During brief interviews today, jurors said the quick verdict stemmed from the victims’ convincing testimony. Adetula’s cultural argument simply didn’t stack up, they said. “There is no real cultural misunderstanding about forcing someone to work and not paying them,” said one juror, who declined to give his name. ref: New Jersey Real-Time News ——
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Rubi Bertaud-Cabrera Age: 27 Charged with one count of importing an alien for an immoral purpose; two counts of bringing in and harboring aliens; one count of transporting for prostitution; and one count of failing to file a factual statement about an alien. Police are now looking for suspected human traffickers Efrain Bertaud-Cabrera, who is described as 5'5", 200 pounds, and about 30-40 years old, and Marcos Antonio Pacheco-Martinez, 5'9", 160 pounds and about 25-35 years old. Victim had been smuggled into this country illegally after Bertaud-Cabrera's mother in Mexico approached the victim's mother about traveling to the United States to care for Bertaud-Cabrara's children, the affidavit said. The offer was first extended when the victim was 16, but her mother resisted until four years later. The victim then traveled to Altar, Mexico, to meet someone who would smuggle her across the border. She paid the smuggler 1,200 pesos, or about $100, the affidavit said. She first was taken to a "stash house" in the Phoenix area for several days, then moved to Atlanta and ultimately to the house on Ginger Lane. She initially did housework there, but Bertaud-Cabrera then told her that she would have to work as a prostitute to pay off her smuggling fee, the affidavit said. The Victim escaped from her alleged abductors and was walking around the Pepperhill subdivision about 7 p.m., according to a police incident report. A woman in the neighborhood saw the victim and called police, said Spencer Pryor, police public information officer. “She looked like a child and she looked confused,” said the caller, a Smoketree Court resident, who asked that her name be withheld. “I didn’t stick around to hear what was wrong with her. I just called police and left.” Using a Spanish-speaking officer as an interpreter, the victim led police to a house on Ginger Lane where she said she had been held against her will for three weeks.
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
One person (Rubi Bertaud-Cabrera, 27) is charged with human trafficking and two others (Efrain Pacheco-Martinez and Marcos Antonio Pacheco-Martinez) were being sought after a 20-year-old woman told police she was smuggled in from Mexico, held captive for three weeks at a house in North Charleston, and forced to have sex.
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.
CSEC2010
United States US
After one of the girls escaped bondage, she sought police help. Investigators from the Oakland Police Dept. pursued Turner and later arrested him. Turner was tried in the Alameda County Superior Court, before Judge Cecilia Castellanos on June 25, 2010. After a single day of deliberation, the jurors found Turner guilty of two counts of kidnapping for financial gain from the female body, two counts of forcible rape and one count each of forcible oral copulation, pandering and human trafficking.
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
Domestic Servitude2010
United States US
FBI intervened and arrested the traffickers. http://www.keyt.com/news/local/89520292.html http://www.kionrightnow.com/global/story.asp?s=12227258 http://920kvec.com/FBI-Arrests-Paso-Robles-Couple-Suspected-Of-Human-/6700143
CSEC2010
United States US
Jeffries was arrested on counts of sexual conduct with a minor and 5 other prostitution-related charges.
Forced Criminality2010
United States US
A coalition of agencies called IIMPACT, which includes the DPS, Phoenix police and federal immigration officials, began investigating the home following a tip of a possible drophouse near 79th Avenue and Camelback Road, said Bart Graves, a media relations coordinator for the Department of Public Safety. Authorities served a search warrant at the home about 1 p.m. Wednesday. When authorities arrived, five men and a woman who were believed to have held the immigrants scattered, Graves said. It took authorities about 20 minutes to find all the suspects and clear the area, but they were all eventually located and arrested on suspicion of human smuggling. The victims – two women, 11 men and three male juveniles ranging from elementary-school age to the 15-year-old boy who apparently traveled alone – appeared to be in relatively good condition. The victims were from El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico, Graves said. In addition, the victims said they had been at another house where they suffered from violent acts. Authorities were still trying to locate that house. It is not uncommon to find more drophouses after the initial one, according to DPS. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/06/02/20100602west-phoenix-drophouse-abrk.html#ixzz0uLWDYq3z http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/central_phoenix/6-arrested-for-human-smuggling-at-west-phoenix-drop-house http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/immigration/drop-house-bust-in-west-phoenix-6-2-2010
CSEC2010
United States US
"Jefferson Davis, 22, has been indicted by a federal grand jury following his arrest in Portland on August 12. The indictment alleges that Davis transported the girl across four states as he forced her to work as a prostitute. Davis is alleged to have struck, beaten, and otherwise physically assaulted the minor whenever she refused to work as a prostitute…. Davis obtained the minor’s address and told her that, ‘if she went to the police or talked about her trafficking, he would kill her family,’” according to a statement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation."