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.
Showing posts with label FORCE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FORCE. Show all posts
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
TWO INTERNATIONAL SEX TRAFFICKING RING MEMBERS INDICTED
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
May 21, 2013
Members of International Sex Trafficking Ring Indicted
Victims Brought to Atlanta and Southeast from Mexico and Guatemala
Arturo Rojas-Coyotl, Odilon Martinez-Rojas, and Severiano Martinez-Rojas, all of Tenancingo in the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico have been indicted on charges of sex trafficking and alien harboring, announced the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. A fourth man, Daniel Garcia-Tepal, also of Tlaxcala, Mexico, is charged with encouraging and inducing aliens to enter and reside in the United States unlawfully.
According to U.S. Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: Rojas-Coyotl and his uncles Odilon Martinez-Rojas and Severiano Martinez-Rojas used force, fraud and coercion to compel three women to engage in prostitution in Atlanta and Norcross, Ga. at various times between 2006 and 2008. Daniel Garcia-Tepal and Arturo Rojas-Coyotl are also charged with encouraging and inducing a fourth woman to unlawfully enter and remain in the United States between 2010 and 2013.
Special Agents of the FBI and ICE Homeland Security Investigations arrested Arturuo Rojas-Coyotl, Odilon Martinez-Rojas, and Daniel Garcia-Tepal in a highly coordinated law enforcement sweep today. Severiano Martinez-Rojas remains a fugitive and is believed to be in Mexico. The FBI will coordinate with its legal attaché in Mexico City to affect his arrest and subsequent extradition back to the U.S. Four search warrants were also executed today in Atlanta and Norcross, Ga. in conjunction with the arrests.
Rojas-Coyotl, 26, Martinez-Rojas, 41, Martinez-Rojas, 48, and Garcia-Tepal, 28, are scheduled for arraignment today. Each sex trafficking charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison while each alien harboring charge has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, with all counts carrying a fine of up to $250,000 each. In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.
This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the FBI and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. Interagency cooperation in international sex trafficking operations is imperative and vital to the success of the prosecution.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Coppedge and Trial Attorney Benjamin Hawk of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit are prosecuting the case.
Anyone with information related to sex trafficking should call the Atlanta FBI hotline at 404-679-9000 or the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-3737-888.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
May 21, 2013
Members of International Sex Trafficking Ring Indicted
Victims Brought to Atlanta and Southeast from Mexico and Guatemala
Arturo Rojas-Coyotl, Odilon Martinez-Rojas, and Severiano Martinez-Rojas, all of Tenancingo in the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico have been indicted on charges of sex trafficking and alien harboring, announced the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. A fourth man, Daniel Garcia-Tepal, also of Tlaxcala, Mexico, is charged with encouraging and inducing aliens to enter and reside in the United States unlawfully.
According to U.S. Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: Rojas-Coyotl and his uncles Odilon Martinez-Rojas and Severiano Martinez-Rojas used force, fraud and coercion to compel three women to engage in prostitution in Atlanta and Norcross, Ga. at various times between 2006 and 2008. Daniel Garcia-Tepal and Arturo Rojas-Coyotl are also charged with encouraging and inducing a fourth woman to unlawfully enter and remain in the United States between 2010 and 2013.
Special Agents of the FBI and ICE Homeland Security Investigations arrested Arturuo Rojas-Coyotl, Odilon Martinez-Rojas, and Daniel Garcia-Tepal in a highly coordinated law enforcement sweep today. Severiano Martinez-Rojas remains a fugitive and is believed to be in Mexico. The FBI will coordinate with its legal attaché in Mexico City to affect his arrest and subsequent extradition back to the U.S. Four search warrants were also executed today in Atlanta and Norcross, Ga. in conjunction with the arrests.
Rojas-Coyotl, 26, Martinez-Rojas, 41, Martinez-Rojas, 48, and Garcia-Tepal, 28, are scheduled for arraignment today. Each sex trafficking charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison while each alien harboring charge has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, with all counts carrying a fine of up to $250,000 each. In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.
This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the FBI and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. Interagency cooperation in international sex trafficking operations is imperative and vital to the success of the prosecution.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Coppedge and Trial Attorney Benjamin Hawk of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit are prosecuting the case.
Anyone with information related to sex trafficking should call the Atlanta FBI hotline at 404-679-9000 or the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-3737-888.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
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