Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
The news article below details the offenses and the initial arrest, By EDWARD SIFUENTES - esifuentes@nctimes.com | Posted: November 25, 2009 8:55 pm SAN DIEGO ---- Two men accused of helping to run a prostitution ring that served migrant camps in North County pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court. The men, Eduardo Aguila-Tecuapacho and Carlos Tzompantzi-Serrano, stood expressionless in a federal courtroom as Judge Louisa Porter read the charge back to them. Both men said in Spanish that they were guilty of harboring illegal immigrants for the purposes of prostitution. Each man faces up to 10 years in prison. They are expected to be sentenced in January. Both are illegal immigrants from Mexico and will likely be deported once they have completed their sentences, Porter said. A third man involved in the case, Adrian Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez, is facing several charges that he brought women across the U.S.-Mexico border to use them in the sex trade. His trial is set to begin next month. Aguila-Tecuapacho helped Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez by renting an apartment in Vista where one of the prostitutes lived, according to court documents. Aguila-Tecuapacho also allowed Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez, who is his cousin, to use his name for cell phone accounts and vehicle registrations for cars that were used to transport the women. Tzompantzi-Serrano acted as a driver taking the women to various North County spots where the women allegedly worked in outdoor brothels, according to federal prosecutors. Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez allegedly befriended at least two women and then forced them into lives of prostitution. In May 2008, Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez allegedly paid a smuggler to bring Anabel de la Cruz-Ramirez, one of the prostitutes, illegally into the U.S. His relatives sheltered her in an apartment on West Los Angeles Drive in Vista. She later relocated to a nearby home at 311 Weston Circle. Once in North County, Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez allegedly took de la Cruz-Ramirez to meet clients in ranches, canyons and apartments, according to court records. He paid her rent, cell phone bills and bought her supplies, such as condoms. Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez, de la Cruz-Ramirez and another woman were arrested on Nov. 20, 2008, when sheriff's deputies stopped the vehicle they were in, in a rural area of Valley Center known as Couzer Canyon, a place authorities say is often used by sex traffickers to set up makeshift prostitution camps. Activists say prostitution is common in North County's migrant camps, where men live in makeshift shanties while working as farm hands and day laborers throughout the region. In recent years, authorities have busted several prostitution rings in the area, but officials say the cases are often difficult to prosecute because the women are often too scared to testify against their pimps.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
An Oahu grand jury has indicted two men on charges stemming from an alleged attempt to force a 20-year-old woman into prostitution. Johnathan Payne was indicted Wednesday on charges of first-degree promotion of prostitution, kidnapping and two counts of being an accomplice to sexual assault. Also indicted was La Shawn R. Adams on charges of kidnapping and third-degree assault. The woman alleged she had gone to meet a friend at the Princess Kaiulani Hotel in Waikiki, and was held against her will in a hotel room Jan. 9-11 by three men. The woman said the men wanted her to be a prostitute, according to a police affidavit. Police said the woman refused and asked the men to leave the room, but they held her captive instead. While being held, the woman was sexually assaulted, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office said.
Forced Labor2008
United States US
In 2004 Lueleni Fetongi Maka brought seven Tongan men to Hawaii, promising them a better life. He then housed them in poor conditions and forced them to work in his landscaping business. Maka maintained control of the victims through beatings and threatening deportation. At times the beatings were so severe they could not work because of their injuries. The victims worked sunrise to sunset trimming trees and building rock walls. Maka paid victims between $100 and $200, if at all.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
Mabelle de la Rosa Dann, also known as Mabelle Crabbe, held 30-year old Zoraida Pena-Canal in captivity for nearly 19 months in apartment #64 of the Cypress Creek Apartments in Walnut Creek, California. Pena-Canal once worked in Peru with Dann's sister, who lives there. Dann, who works as a real estate agent in Walnut Creek, promised Pena-Canal a job caring for her three children as a nanny in the USA that would pay $600/mo and a private residence. Instead, Pena-Canal worked around the clock cleaning Dann's apartment, doing laundry, cooking meals and tending to Dann's three boys. Pena-Canal initially slept on the living room sofa in Dann's apartment, then subsequently was banished to sleep on the living room floor. Instead of paying her nanny/house keeper, Dann charged her $15,000 for living expenses, which she kept in her debt. Pena-Canal Dann forced her to smash her radio and TV so that she would not listen to Spanish-speaking radio and get information about the USA that might help her. Dann regularly abused her servant verbally and physically, and took away her identity documents, money and bank cards. She threatened to turn Pena-Canal over to the police if she tried to escape. Dann paid a third-party agent to secure a visitor visa for her victim, though she always intended for Pena-Canal to work in her home.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
A couple, Franklin Macedo and Yaneth Martinez, were arrested for human trafficking and prostituting women from Mexico and Honduras. To get clients, the couple handed out business cards in the Hispanic neighborhood that said “hair cuts for men only”, or “flowers home delivery”. These cards were code language for prostitution.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Elodia Capilla Diego, Sergio Gonzalez Ramos, Marcelino Berdou-Lopez
CSEC2008
United States US
The suspect was a 23 year old man who forced a 12 year old girl into prostitution. He met her thorugh a mutual friend on January 9th and invited her to hang out. Police said he had unprotected sex with her that night and several times over the next several days. When the girl failed to return home the night of the 9th, her family filed a missing persons report. During the five days, the two stayed at the homes of several women who described themselves as the suspect's fiances. She was ordered by the man to walk the streets of South King County to work as a prostitute and the man allegedly told her the exact price to charge for each sex act. She was also told not to tell her age to any customers. One of the suspect's "financees" became angry about the girl and called a phone number she found in a school binder that the girl had left at her home. The person who answered the phone turned out to be the 12 year old girl's sister. The "fiancee" told the sister where the missing girl was in downtown Seattle. Police said relatives found the girl Sunday night with the man in downtown Seattle. The relatives took the girl to Harborview Medical Center where a rape examination was performed and then went to the Seattle police department's West Precinct and notified police they had found her. After talking to the girl, the police found the suspect on a West Seattle street. According to detectives, the man's acquaintances say he has befriended other young girls, raping them as well as coercing them into prostitution.
CSEC2008
United States US
A prostitution sting in December 2008 led to the arrest of 6 men, who allegedly prostituted 13 girls and women. One girl was at least 15yrs old at the time. It is alleged that the men used violence and coercion, forcing the girls to walk the street, and give the men their earnings. Five of the men have plead guilty to state related prostitution charges, in order to avoid federal human trafficking charges. The sixth has yet to plead out or face trial.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
DeShawn Clark, 18, who goes by "Cash" or "Cash Money" was charged in November of 2008 with promoting prostitution and other charges. Prosecutors added the charge of second-degree human trafficking on Friday, March 20, 2009. This is the first time King County has charged anyone under the 2003 law that was passed that criminalized human trafficking. Charges agains DeShawn Clark now include second-degree human trafficking, first-degree promoting prostitution, two counts of promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor, second degree assault, unlawful imprisonment and drug possession. Thomas I. Foster, 19, was also charged in Movember and several other members were charged with various related counts Friday, including Shawn S. Clark, 20; Gerald Jackson, 21; Mycah Johnson, 19, and Desmond Manago, 20. Investigators say the gang, which is affiliated with the Bloods, has 20-30 members involved in robbery, drug sales, weapon possession and aggravated assaults, according to charging papers.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
Malika Garrett (wife) Russell Garrett (husband) D. William Garrett (father-in-law) Russell is a Forsyth County Deputy Sheriff and William is a Fulton County Magistrate County Judge of Alpharetta, GA. All three reside in Woodstock and all three were responsible for encouraging a female Indian to enter the US and serve as a nanny to Malika and Russell's children. They eventually quit paying her and restricted her from leaving their home. The woman worked up to 16 hours a day. As a means to prevent the woman from leaving and to scare her from leaving, the couple threatened her with jail and deportation and also threatened to spread lies about her character to her family back home in India. After the victim escaped, the couple conspired to spread rumors about the woman through out the community, accused her of theft, reported her illegal status to the authorities and accused her of engaging in terrorist activities.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
Beginning in 2000 until August 2008, Lynda Dieu Phan, Duc Cao Nguyen, and Justin Phan conspired for Lynda Dieu Phan to travel to Vietnam to recruit victims to work in her nail salons located in the York, PA, area. The group arranged fraudulent marriages for the victims so they could gain entry into the United States. The victims were told that they could earn off their debt for being brought to America in 3 years. However, once in the country, the victims were forced to work at Lynda Dieu Phan’s nail salons and as domestic servants in her home. The victims reportedly worked long hours, often 7 days a week, for no pay. They were also said to have worked under emotionally demoralizing circumstances. One of the victims became acquainted with a customer through the nail salon, and it was through this customer that one victim was able to escape. The victim fled from Lynda’s home at 1:30am on June 1, 2008. The other victims were not emancipated until August 2008.
Bonded Labor2008
United States US
Federal investigators have charged three people in a case of forced labor trafficking in York County that has been going on for eight years. Lynda Phan, of New Cumberland, went to Vietnam and recruited two women to work in her two nail salons in the York area, U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson said. Phan arranged fake marriages to Duc Cao Nguyen, of New Cumberland, and Justin Phan, of Tennessee, so the women could get into the United States, Carlson said. The women were then forced to work without pay at the nail salons.
Sex Trafficking2007
United States US
Yan Liu, 48 Ms.Liu spoke by telephone with an Asian woman then in California on several occasions in August, 2007 and persuaded the woman to purchase an airline ticket and travel to Buffalo for the purpose of working in a massage parlor owned or operated by the defendant. She owned or operated Asian Greenday Spa in West Seneca, New York and Rainbow Spa in Amherst, New York. The woman who traveled from California worked in Asian Greenday Spa and performed numerous sexual acts for customers and was paid in "tips" for these services while the parlor's base massage fee was paid over to Ms. Liu.
Forced Labor2007
United States US
Francesco Insolia, the plant manager, Dilia Costa, the payroll manager and Gloria Melo, the office manager of Michael Bianco, Inc. were arrested for forcing illegal immigrants, mostly from Guatemala and El Salvador, to work in harsh conditions for long periods of time without proper payment.
CSEC2007
United States US
Shaun Leoney, 26, of Dorchester, Mass.; Darryl Tavares, 24, of Revere, Mass.; Eddie Jones, 25, of Roxbury, Mass.; Rueben Porcher, 29, of Dorchester; Aaron Brooks, 23, of Quincy, Mass.; and Trueheart Peeples, 30, of Portland, Maine have been charged with sex trafficking of children, transportation of minors for the purpose of prostitution, and conspiracy. According to the indictment, between approximately February of 2001 and December of 2005, Leoney, Tavares, Jones, Porcher, Brooks and Peeples conspired with each other to transport adults and minors between states for prostitution, assisting each other, and ultimately profiting from each other’s endeavors. The defendants operated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts. The Indictment also alleges that Leoney, Tavares, Jones, Porcher, and Peeples trafficked minors for the purpose of prostitution.
Sex Trafficking2007
United States US
Vanessa Cristina Guedes Lopes, of Miami, Florida, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for bringing aliens to the U.S. illegally, bringing individuals in interstate commerce for prostitution, sex trafficking, and conspiracy. In addition, she has been convicted for making false statements in immigration documents—she will be deported after serving her sentence. Lopes recruited women, advertised them online, and sent them to various cities in Massachusetts. She coerced the women into staying through the use of threats, such as the deportation.
Sex Trafficking2007
United States US
Justine Alex Reisdorf, a 19-year-old Burnsville woman. Her indictment alleges that between November 2006 and March 2007, Reisdorf operated a prostitution ring. Court documents stated that Reisdorf knowingly employed female students under the age of 18 from Minnesota School District 191 to serve as prostitutes for that business. Reisdorf’s operation was advertised on the Internet, specifically through listings on Craigslist.com. Those listings advertised both adult and minor prostitution services and displayed photographs of the females, along with available services and prices.
Sex Trafficking2007
United States US
From Marin Independant Journal, article by Gary Klien http://www.masscops.com/forums/cyber-crime/38889-feds-hit-myspace-pimp-suspect-child-sex-trafficking-charge.html "A 32-year-old man accused of pimping a teenage girl in San Rafael after meeting her through MySpace.com is now facing a federal sex trafficking charge. Melvin Parker Jr., a convicted felon from Richmond, could face 10 years to life in prison if convicted of the federal charge of sex trafficking of children, according to a complaint by the FBI. The federal government has an interest in the case because Parker allegedly enticed the victim, a 16-year-old runaway from Washington state, across state lines through MySpace, a social networking site. Federal law prohibits using "force, fraud or coercion" to get a minor across state or national boundaries to engage in a "commercial sex act." Parker, who was arrested in August, has already been charged in Marin Superior Court with soliciting for a prostitute, pandering, unlawful sex, sale or transportation of marijuana and driving without a license. He has pleaded not guilty." "Authorities said Parker put the girl up at the Economy Inn in San Pablo while making her work as a prostitute in Richmond, Concord and San Rafael." According to SF Chonicle, Parker picked up two girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation. http://www.sfgate.com/flat/archive/2007/10/12/chronicle/archive/2007/10/12/BAHISOPNC.html
Sex Trafficking2007
United States US
After San Rafael police arrested Parker, he was charged in Marin Superior Court but the case was dismissed in favor of federal prosecution for Sex Trafficking of a Minor, which resulted in a 130 month sentence (June 2008). US DOJ press release: http://www.justice.gov/usao/can/press/2008/2008_06_18_parker.sentenced.press.html Marin IJ story: http://www.marinij.com/ci_7069141?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com
Domestic Servitude2007
United States US
Enung and Samirah were the 2 domestic workers. On May 13, 2007, the police were called to a Dunkin’ Donuts in Syosset, N.Y., where one of the domestic workers had turned up. Her face was bruised and she wore only pants and a towel. When the Dunkin’ Donuts employees tried to talk to the 51-year-old woman, identified as Samirah — like many Indonesians, she uses only one name — she made gestures of hitting herself and uttered what sounded to them like the word “master.”
Domestic Servitude2007
United States US
Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, and his wife, Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 45, were each convicted of all charges in a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude, and harboring aliens. They were keeping two housekeeper in their house and paying them only $100-150 a month, all of which was sent back to their families. The women were forced to work 18 hours a day and were subjected to horrible abuses as "punishments" for actions like sleeping late or stealing food from the trash because they were underfed.
Forced Labor2007
United States US
Not Sure.
CSEC2007
United States US
The evidence presented at trial established that in June, 2007, FLINT and co-defendant James Roney brought two victims, a 15-year-old girl and an adult woman from Cleveland, Ohio to Detroit for the purpose of making money through prostitution and striptease dancing, and for the purpose of having sex with them. While in Detroit, defendant FLINT instructed the victims that they would have to engage in commercial sexual acts for money, including sexual intercourse and oral sex. Flint was sentenced with 135 months in prison.
Sex Trafficking2007
United States US
Sept. 2007: Police announced that two women had been arrested for allegedly offering prostitution services out of a massage therapy business, A-Care Health Center in Pacifica. Pacifica Police worked with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and the Broadmoor Police Department to execute a search warrant after neighborhood complaints about lewd acts committed at the business surfaced, police reported. Jing Wang was arrested on prostitution charges, and Yu Fen Wang was detained by immigration enforcement officers and charged with immigration violations For original article, see: http://cbs5.com/crime/A.Care.Health.2.459643.html