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Saturday, August 10, 2013

TWO INDICTED IN ALLEGED VIOLENT SEX TRAFFICKING CONSPIRACY

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Monday, July 29, 2013
New Indictment Charges Maryland Man and an Illinois Woman in a Violent Sex Trafficking Conspiracy
Allegedly Used Guns, Threats and Violence to Force the Victims to Engage in Prostitution

A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment charging Jean Claude Roy, aka “Dredd the Don,” and “Dreddy,” age 31, of Germantown, Md., and Brittney Creason, aka“Kitty Amor,” age 19, of Decatur, IL., of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.  Dreddy is also charged with sex trafficking and attempted sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; interstate transportation for prostitution; possessing and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence; and witness and evidence tampering.  Creason was arrested today in Las Vegas, where she was being held on unrelated charges.  Dreddy, who was charged in the initial indictment, remains detained.  The superseding indictment was returned on July 24, 2013.

The superseding indictment was announced by U.S.  Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Jocelyn Samuels; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department.

“Protecting our communities from those who engage in human trafficking is a top priority for ICE Homeland Security Investigations,” said William Winter, special agent in charge of HSI Baltimore. "As a member of the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, HSI is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to investigate human trafficking, as well as working with our local non-governmental, community-based and faith-based organizations to identify, rescue and assist victims of trafficking.”

According to the 12-count indictment, between August and September 2012, Roy forced  an individual to engage in commercial sex acts, transported the victim across state lines to engage in prostitution and brandished  a gun to facilitate the sex trafficking.  The indictment further alleges that in December 2012, Roy and Creason engaged in a sex trafficking conspiracy to force three individuals to engage in commercial sex acts.  As part of the conspiracy, Roy and Creason are alleged to have recruited and transported females from Illinois and North Carolina, with the intent to have those women engage in prostitution.  According to the indictment, Roy forced one of the victims to engage in sex acts with him, while Creason held her down.  The indictment alleges that Roy forced the women to engage in prostitution by threatening them with physical force and death, brandishing a firearm and by bragging about beating murder charges. Finally, the indictment alleges that from Jan. 1 to Jan. 10, 2013, while Roy was in jail on related state charges, he made numerous telephone calls to an individual and had that person access online accounts and storage services belonging to Roy and Creason in order to erase evidence related to these charges.

Roy and Creason face a maximum sentenced of life in prison for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.  Roy faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison on each of two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of attempted sex trafficking; a mandatory sentence of seven years for the first count of brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and a mandatory sentence of 25 years for the second count, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, and a maximum of life in prison; a maximum of 10 years in prison for each of four counts of interstate transportation for prostitution; and a maximum of 20 years in prison for witness and evidence tampering.  An initial appearance has not yet been scheduled for the defendants in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

This case was investigated by the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders.  Members include federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members.  For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit www.justice.gov/usao/md/Human‑Trafficking/index.html.

Report suspected instances of human trafficking to HSI's tip line at 866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristi N. O’Malley, and Trial Attorney William E. Nolan of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, who are prosecuting the case.


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