WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY IN SEX TRAFFICKING CASE INVOLVING MINOR

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Louisiana Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Commit Sex Trafficking of a Minor

A Louisiana woman pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit sex trafficking of a minor, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney J. Walter Green of the Middle District of Louisiana and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey S. Sallet of the FBI’s New Orleans Division.

Kellie M. Dominique, 37, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Shelly D. Dick of the Middle District of Louisiana.  The sentencing hearing will be set at a later date.

In connection with her plea, Dominique admitted that from June 2013 until September 2013, she conspired with others to promote the prostitution of a minor female out of Dominique’s home and other venues.  Dominique also admitted that under her direction, the minor female posted on Backpage.com classified advertisements for commercial sex acts in Louisiana and elsewhere.  Dominique further admitted that she introduced the minor female to illegal drugs and used such drugs with the minor female.  Dominique also admitted that she made false statements to government officials and corruptly influenced potential witnesses.  

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Louisiana, the FBI’s New Orleans Division – Baton Rouge Resident Agency – Child Exploitation Task Force, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office are investigating the case with assistance from the Baton Rouge Police Department – Narcotics, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and other law enforcement agencies.  Trial Attorney Reginald E. Jones of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie A. Flowers Jr. of the Middle District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

MAN PLEADS GUILTY FOR ROLE IN INTERSTATE PROSTITUTION ENTERPRISE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Leader of Sex Trafficking Ring Pleads Guilty

The leader of a sex trafficking ring pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his interstate prostitution enterprise, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney J. Walter Green of the Middle District of Louisiana and Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson of the FBI’s New Orleans Division.

Jeremie J. Tate, 33, of Zachary, Louisiana, pleaded guilty this morning before U.S. District Judge Shelly D. Dick of the Middle District of Louisiana to conspiracy to unlawfully use interstate facilities in aid of racketeering, two counts of use of interstate facilities in aid of racketeering and enticing another to travel interstate for prostitution.  After evading arrest for several days, Tate was apprehended in Houston, Texas, on April 25, 2014, by the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and the FBI’s New Orleans Division.  Tate has remained in federal custody since his arrest.

According to the plea agreement filed in the case, from November 2012 through November 2013, Tate operated a prostitution business based in Baton Rouge involving multiple prostitutes, including a minor.  Tate and others, used telephones and the Internet to arrange online advertising, schedule prostitution sessions and recruit other prostitutes.  Tate admitted that he took most of the proceeds from the prostitution business and distributed controlled substances to his prostitutes and others to manipulate and intimidate them.  In his plea agreement, Tate specifically admitted that he enticed a prostitute to travel from Baton Rouge to Las Vegas in December 2012 to engage in prostitution for him.

Three other individuals have already pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing for their roles in this sex trafficking ring.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s New Orleans Division, Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, Louisiana State Police and East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Police Department’s Narcotics Division, U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and other law enforcement agencies.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Reginald E. Jones of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie A. Flowers Jr. of the Middle District of Louisiana.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

MAN CONVICTED IN "VIOLENT SEX TRAFFICKING CONSPIRACY"

FROM:   U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Thursday, March 20, 2014

Maryland Man Convicted in Violent Sex Trafficking Conspiracy

A federal jury convicted Jean Claude Roy, aka Dredd the Don and Dreddy, age 31, of Germantown, Md., late yesterday of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, three counts of interstate transportation for prostitution and witness and evidence tampering.
 
The verdict was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein for the District of Maryland, 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.

“This defendant preyed on vulnerable young women and exploited them for prostitution,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Samuels.  “The Civil Rights Division is committed to seeking justice on behalf of victims of human trafficking.”

“Protecting our communities from those who engage in human trafficking is a top priority for HSI,” said Special Agent in Charge Winter.  “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 evidence presented during the two week trial, between August and September 2012, Roy transported a victim across state lines to engage in prostitution and forced the victim to engage in prostitution by taking the victim’s identity documents, keeping all of the victim’s money and bragging about beating murder charges.  

In November 2012, Roy recruited co-defendant Brittney Creason to engage in prostitution at his direction.  Thereafter, Creason helped Roy recruit and transport girls from Illinois and North Carolina to engage in prostitution.  He continued to force women to engage in prostitution by bragging about beating murder charges, taking their identity documents and taking their money.  

Trial evidence also showed that from Jan. 1 through Jan. 10, 2013, while Roy was in jail on related state charges, he called an individual several times 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 faces a statutory maximum sentenced of life in prison for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison for each of three counts of interstate transportation for prostitution; and a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison for witness and evidence tampering.  U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm scheduled sentencing for July 16, 2014.
The jury found Roy not guilty of sex trafficking and attempted sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; and possessing and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

Creason, aka Kitty Amor, age 19, of Decatur, Ill., previously pleaded guilty to using a facility in interstate commerce for an illegal activity and awaits sentencing.  
This case was investigated by the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, which was 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 this website.  

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.  

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

TWO MINNESOTANS SENTENCED FOR ROLES IN SEX TRAFFICKING CONSPIRACY

FROM:  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Minnesota Man and Woman Sentenced for Participating in a Sex Trafficking Conspiracy

Today, the Justice Department announced that Andre James Hertzog, 29, was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison and eight years of supervised release for participating in a sex trafficking conspiracy.  Hertzog’s co-defendant, Nicole Bramer, 29, was sentenced to serve 21 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.  In addition, the defendants were each ordered to pay $6100 in restitution to the victims of the offense.  Hertzog and Bramer are both from St. Paul, Minn.

“The defendants preyed upon vulnerable young women by a variety of deplorable means,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division.  “The Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting those who sexually exploit vulnerable women for financial benefit.”

“Working with victims of sex trafficking to attain a measure of justice is a serious responsibility,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Warrener for the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office.  “These sentences are the culmination of investigators and prosecutors effectively communicating with victims.”

Bramer pleaded guilty to participating in the sex trafficking conspiracy on May 29, 2013, and Hertzog pleaded guilty on July 2, 2013.  During his plea hearing, Hertzog admitted that, from April 2011 to August 2012, he and Bramer engaged in a scheme to target and recruit young, vulnerable women, one of whom was a minor, and to compel them into performing commercial sex acts for their own financial gain.  Hertzog and Bramer used coercive tactics, including physical violence and psychological coercion, to isolate the young women, control them and cause them to perform acts of prostitution.  As part of the trafficking scheme, the defendants transported the victims across state lines for the purpose of having them engage in prostitution, and the defendants routinely advertised the sexual services of the young women on the internet website Backpage.com.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted jointly by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Kappelhoff for the District of Minnesota, Trial Attorney Christine M. Siscaretti, and former Trial Attorney Amanda Gregory for the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

MAN INDICTED ON DRUG CONSPIRACY AND SEX TRAFFICKING CHARGES

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Florida Man Indicted on Drug Conspiracy and Sex Trafficking Charges

A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging Andrew Blane Fields, 62, of Lutz, Fla., with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances, namely Oxycodone, Dilaudid and Morphine; three counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; and two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. If convicted on all counts, Fields faces a maximum of life in federal prison.

According to allegations in the indictment and criminal complaint, at least as early as 2008 through the end of 2012, Fields engaged in the sex trafficking of three different victims for commercial gain, who are identified in the indictment by their initials. Fields coerced and controlled the victims by, among other methods, supplying them on a daily basis with a large number of highly addictive prescription drugs. During the execution of a federal search warrant, law enforcement recovered thousands of prescription pills from Fields’ residence. Fields was previously charged by criminal complaint on March 20, 2013.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of the Clearwater, Fla., Police Department and members of the Clearwater Area Human Trafficking Task Force. It will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Josephine W. Thomas and Trial Attorney William E. Nolan with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

GUAM BAR OWNER GETS LIFE FOR SEX TRAFFICKING AND OTHER CRIMES

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, September 20, 2012

Guam Bar Owner Sentenced to Life in Prison for Sex Trafficking and Related Crimes

Song Ja Cha, 70, a bar owner in Guam, was sentenced to life in prison for her involvement in a sex trafficking scheme to force young women and one juvenile girl into prostitution, the Department of Justice announced. Cha was also ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution to the victims in this case as well as a $10,000 fine.

On Feb. 17, 2011, a federal jury in Guam found Cha guilty on all 20 counts of an indictment that charged her with sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, coercion and enticement to travel in interstate or foreign commerce for prostitution and transportation of a minor for prostitution. The trial lasted eight days.

According to court documents, from 2004 through January 2008, Cha and others in the conspiracy recruited and enticed approximately 10 victims to come to Guam from the island of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. The victims were largely poor, young and uneducated. Cha lured the young women and one 16-year-old girl to Guam by promising them legitimate employment in a restaurant or store. In actuality, Cha was the proprietor of Blue House Lounge, a bar that included approximately six VIP rooms offering commercial sex.

According to evidence presented in court, Cha and her co-conspirators compelled the victims to work in the VIP rooms for 12 to 14 hours a day for the financial benefit of the conspiracy. Upon the victims’ arrival to the Blue House Lounge, Cha stripped the young women of their passports, clothing and identities. Cha then used a variety of means to compel the victims to engage in prostitution, including physical assaults, threats of arrest, manipulation of debt, withholding food and restricted access to the outside world. The victims testified that they were terrified of Cha and her co-conspirators, and that Cha used the fact that police officers frequented the lounge to make the victims believe that she was "connected" and could have them arrested and jailed.

"The sexual exploitation of vulnerable individuals is an affront to fundamental rights and will not be tolerated in our country. The defendant preyed on the hopes and dreams of these young victims, forcing them into a life of prostitution," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Department of Justice is committed to vigorously prosecuting the trafficking of human beings to uphold the rights of those held in modern-day slavery, whether for labor or for sexual exploitation."

"Human traffickers trick, lie and coerce young women with a promise of work in a legitimate job," said Alicia Limtiaco, U.S. Attorney for the District of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. "In reality, these young women lose their freedom and are horribly demeaned by the sexual acts that they are forced to perform. Defendant Cha preyed on vulnerable victims and used threats and abuse to force them into prostitution. The jury’s verdict makes clear that sex trafficking schemes will not be tolerated. We will continue to find traffickers and hold them accountable for their crimes."

The Department of Justice has identified human trafficking prosecutions as a top priority.

MAN SENTENCED FOR HUMAN SEX TRAFFICKING

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

Monday, January 30, 2012
“WASHINGTON -   Charles Kizer, 53, from Memphis, Tenn., was sentenced late Friday by U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays, Jr. to 10 years in prison for violating the Mann Act.

Kizer pleaded guilty in federal court on Aug. 31, 2011, to violating the Mann Act by transporting a woman across state lines for the purpose of having her engage in prostitution.   As part of the plea, Kizer admitted that between Aug. 1, 2010, and Sept. 1, 2010, he drove an 18 year-old woman across state lines from Memphis, Tenn., to West Memphis, Ark., to engage in prostitution at a truck stop.   Evidence presented at the sentencing showed that Kizer used threats of force and violence to create a climate of fear to cause the woman to engage in prostitution for his financial gain.

“The defendant’s actions robbed this vulnerable young woman of her freedom and dignity,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.   “We will continue to prosecute those who engage in such reprehensible conduct of coercion and exploitation.”

“Human trafficking is tragically a widespread form of modern-day slavery.  This office – in particular, our dedicated Civil Rights Unit - will continue our efforts to rescue victims of trafficking by vigorously pursuing and prosecuting those who seek to exploit them,” said U.S. Attorney Edward L. Stanton, III.

“Sex trafficking is an unconscionable crime and a violation of human rights that the FBI is dedicated to eradicating from our free society ,“ said Aaron T. Ford, Special Agent in Charge of the Memphis Division of the FBI.  “ FBI Memphis is proud of the role that it played in bringing this matter to justice, and protecting and defending those who may not be able to evade or escape the grip of sex trafficking .”

The case has been investigated by the FBI and the Memphis Police Department.   The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Saeed Mody.”