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Illegal Alien Admits Transporting 100 Women for Prostitution

Illegal Alien Admits Transporting 100 Women for Prostitution


On October 15, 2012, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that an illegal alien living in Riverdale, Maryland, pleaded guilty to transporting over 100 women from various states to engage in prostitution in the state of Virginia.  


The case was investigated by the Transnational Gang Unit under the ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  The Unit is part of the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force.  


The defendant’s name is Marco Sanchez Hernandez, and he is known as “Marquito.”  He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and he is scheduled for sentencing on January 4, 2013.  


According to court documents, Hernandez admitted his role in a trafficking network from 2005 through July of 2012.  The network transported women to engage in prostitution in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.  Specific areas of Virginia included Washington D.C., Fairfax County, Prince William County, Alexandria, Arlington, Newport News, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach.  


The court documents state that the women were ordered to charge $30 for 15 minutes of sex.  Hernandez mainly transported the women to engage in prostitution, but he also collected money from various drivers and transported the women to the homes of the customers as well.  


Hernandez even advertised the prostitution business.  He handed out business cards to Spanish restaurants, construction sites, check cashing stores, and more.  The profits were eventually sent to the leader of the organization in Mexico.  


From 2011, the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force has apprehended 40 defendants and prosecuted a total of 22 cases in the Eastern District of Virginia alone.  The cases involved a total of 31 victims, and the sentences have included sentences of 10 years in prison to life in prison.  


Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc J. Birnbaum and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Frank are in charge of prosecution.


Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

MA Massage Parlor Owners Arrested for Human Trafficking

MA Massage Parlor Owners Arrested for Human Trafficking


On October 18, 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that two massage parlors were shut down in Wellesley and Revere, Massachusetts after they were used for human trafficking and prostitution.  The case was investigated by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Massachusetts State Police, and the Wellesley Police Department.  


The two owners are Zhen Lai of Quincy and Joseph Girouard of Revere.  Each owner was charged with one count of trafficking persons for sexual servitude as well as keeping a house of ill fame.  


Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley stated, “We allege that these individuals ran two massage parlors that were thinly veiled fronts for prostitution.  Further, these two defendants allegedly profited from sexual services provided to clients by women they employed.  We would like to thank HSI and our local police partners for assisting in the investigation and arrests.”  


The massage parlor in Wellesley is called Sun Spa (Sun Studio), and the parlor in Revere is called Bodywork.  Lai and Girouard are believed to have jointly run the two massage parlors.  


During the investigation, authorities found that the massage parlors were offering sexual activity between massages for cash that was referred to as “tips.”  The investigation also found that the two spas were listed on websites that advertise prostitution.  


The search warrant was served on Thursday, October 18, and Lai and Girouard were arrested shortly after the searches.


Chief Terrence Cunningham of the Wellesley Police Department stated, “Thanks to Attorney General Coakley’s attention to the human trafficking issue and her unwavering determination to bring individuals involved in the exploitation of women to justice, this is not just another prostitution prosecution.  


If you believe there is any similar suspicious activity in your community, you can call the HSI Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.  


Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

El Paso Massage Parlor Recruited Prostitutes

El Paso Massage Parlor Recruited Prostitutes


On October 19, 2012, the owner of a massage parlor in El Paso, Texas, was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents under Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  The defendant, Soon Kim, was charged with “coercion and enticement to transport illegal sexual activity.”


Soon Kim is the owner of the Kyoto Hot Stone Spa on the 600 block of North Virginia Street in El Paso.  


After the search warrant was issued, HSI agents found a large number of unwrapped condoms at different places inside—evidence which ICE states is “consistent with prostitution.”


During the same search warrant, a woman outside the massage parlor told the special agents that she was recruited to work at the business.  The woman stated she knew she was supposed to perform sexual acts for customers, and she was required to wear a short, tight dress.  She told the special agents she flew from California to work for the massage parlor.  


Kim admitted that she charged customers at the front desk for massages, chair massages, and table showers.  She said that her employees were allowed to collect monetary tips from the customers, and the tips were often payments for sexual acts.  She also admitted that the employees were from Korea, and they weren’t United States citizens.  


Kim now faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, and she is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on October 23, 2012.  


The case is still being prosecuted by special agents with the HSI El Paso Border Enforcement Security task Force (BEST).  The BEST unit in El Paso is one of 32 BEST units the United States and Mexico, and they investigate a large amount of crimes associated with immigration and customs.  BEST is extremely effective in targeting and stopping criminal organizations on both sides of the border.  


Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
 

Two Maryland Men Guilty of Online Child Prostitution

Two Maryland Men Guilty of Online Child Prostitution


On November 8, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland reported that Melvin Douglas, aka Melvin Longwood, and Dennis Smith, aka Domo, pleaded guilty for transporting a minor across state lines to engage in prostitution.  Smith also pleaded guilty in another case for the same charge as well as sex trafficking of a minor.


During the plea agreement, Douglas admitted to transporting a minor female from September 5, 2011 to February 9, 2012 to hotels around the state of Maryland.  Douglas was discovered after the Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit obtained a missing alert from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  The Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force soon found an advertisement online for the same missing girl.  Authorities soon scheduled a fake “date” and arrested Douglas.  


During Smith’s plea agreement, he admitted to meeting a 16-year-old girl across state lines in October of 2011 to engage in prostitution.  Smith then picked up the girl and another 15-year-old girl in February of 2012 and took them to his home.  He tattooed the girls with the word “Domo” and made them engage in prostitution in hotels around the state of Maryland.  


If the government accepts Douglas’ plea agreement, he will receive 10 years in prison.  He is scheduled for sentencing on February 4, 2013.  Smith faces a mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison for each of his charges.  He is scheduled for sentencing on February 2, 2013.  The two men must also register as sex offenders and state where they live, where they work, and where they study according to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).  


U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein stated, “Maryland’s human trafficking task force pursues all leads concerning exploited children and follows a zero-tolerance policy for child prostitution.  Criminals who pay for or profit from sex with children should understand that we are standing by to send them to federal prison.”


Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
 

Chicago Massage Parlor Operator Receives Life in Prison

Chicago Massage Parlor Operator Receives Life in Prison


On November 26, 2012, the Department of Justice announced that Alex Campbell of Glenview, Illinois was sentenced to life in federal prison for “sex-trafficking, forced labor, harboring illegal aliens, confiscating passports to further forced labor and extortion involving four women.”  Campbell operated the Day and Night Spa in Mt. Prospect, Illinois on Northwest Highway.  


The four women who were threatened with violence and subject to violence are from the Ukraine and Belarus.


After he was convicted, he faced 15 years to life in prison on the sex-trafficking charge alone.  The judge ordered the maximum sentence and added five to twenty years on top of the life sentence for all of the other counts.  


Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated: “Alex Campbell abused women by violently coercing them into labor and commercial sex.  By working together with law enforcement and community groups, those women were able to testify about that abuse.”  


Gary S. Shapiro, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, warned other criminals in the commercial sex and human trafficking industries: “If you treat human beings as property, to be branded, beaten, raped, and sold, the law will punish you to the greatest extent possible.  This sentence ensures Alex Campbell’s incapacitation, which will prevent him from victimizing other women.”


Trial evidence shows that Campbell recruited foreign women without legal states to become part of his “Family” in the United States.  At first, he gave them jobs at the massage parlor, gave them a place to live, assisted them with immigration, and entered into seemingly romantic relationships with the women.  He soon forced them to get a tattoo and turn over their passports and visas.  They women were then forced to work long hours during the day and night.  If they disobeyed Campbell, they were beaten.  


All four of the female victims testified during the case, and investigators presented evidence that more than 20 women were made victims.  


Source: Department of Justice

NJ Mans Guilty of 12 Counts of Sex Trafficking

NJ Mans Guilty of 12 Counts of Sex Trafficking


On November 21, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa announced that Johnelle Lewis Bell of Hammonton, New Jersey, was found guilty of 12 counts related to sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.  


Bell faces the following sentences for his crimes:


“Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking” (count 1) carries any sentence up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine along with five years of supervised release.  


“Sex trafficking” (counts 2 and 3) carries 15 years to life in prison, a fine of $250,000, and up to five years of supervised release.  


“Inclusive, coercion or enticement to travel in interstate commerce for prostitution” (counts 4 through 7) carries up to 20 years in prison, a fine up to $250,000, and up to five years of supervised release.  


“Conspiracy to transport in interstate commerce for prostitution” (count 8) carries up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and no more than three years of supervised release.  


“Inclusive, transportation in interstate commerce for prostitution” (counts 9 through 12) carries up to 10 years in prison, a fine up to $250,000, and no more than three years of supervised release.  


Bell was arrested after a sting by the Great Plains Innocence Lost Task Force on June 18, 2011.  An undercover agent arranged to meet after answering an advertisement for prostitution in Omaha on backpage.com.  During the raid, Bell arrived with three adult female prostitutes.  


During the investigation, it was found that the prostitution ring was centered in Little Rock, Arkansas.  However, the prostitution ring expanded to parts of Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee.  


During the trial, former prostitutes testified against Bell.  Some reported that they were beaten and/or never paid, and the victims often described emotional and mental problems associated with Bell’s crimes.  


Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Sisters Sentenced for Child Sex Trafficking

Sisters Sentenced for Child Sex Trafficking


Two sisters from the Sacramento area were sentenced on October 18, 2012, for the sex trafficking of minors.  The U.S Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced that Tynisha Marie Hornbuckle received 15 years and 8 months in prison and her sister, Tamrell Rena Hornbuckle, received 12 years and 7 months in prison.  


The other sisters of Tynisha and Tamrell have pleaded guilty to participating in the sex trafficking as well.  They are Alicia Hornbuckle, Cherrelle Elizabeth Hornbuckle, and Jacqueline Lanoise Radisha.  Also, the sisters’ mother—Tammy Rena Brown—pleaded guilty for participation.


Court documents indicate that Tynisha Hornbuckle recruited a 13-year-old runaway in 2008 and made her work as a prostitute.  At least two other minors worked for Tynisha, and Tamrell made a minor victim work after she turned 18.  


The victims worked when and where Tynisha told them to work.  Tynisha also told the girls how much to charge, and the money was returned to Tynisha or Tamrell.  The girls would engage in sexual activity at the residence of Tamrell, Cherrelle, Latrelle, or Brown’s house, and the owner of the property would receive a percentage of the funds.  


Testimony proved that at least two of the victims were violently beaten during their time working for the defendants, and the 13-year-old victim was beaten almost every day.  The victims were tattooed with the name “Hornbuckle,” and one of the victims compared the tattooing to the branding of livestock.  


Each of the defendants received sentencing that regarded their past history.  The judge commented that the defendants preyed upon “extremely young girls,” and they made the prostitutes comply with “coercion and physical violence.”


The case was investigated by the FBI, the Sacramento Police Department, and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Reardon is in charge of prosecution.  


Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

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