Victims as Young as 13 Were Promised Jobs, Then Suffered Threats and Beatings

LOS ANGELES – LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – Six members of a Guatemalan family and three associates were indicted for their roles in a sex trafficking ring that recruited young women in Guatemala with false promises of high-paying jobs, smuggled the victims into the United States, and forced them to work as prostitutes to pay smuggling fees.

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles yesterday returned a 50-count superseding indictment, unsealed today following the arrest of a new defendant involved in the sex trafficking scheme. The superseding indictment, which replaces charges first filed in December 2006, adds allegations of sex trafficking of minors; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; violations of the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate or foreign transport of minors for prostitution; and importing and harboring aliens for purposes of prostitution. The indictment discusses 12 victims who were forced to work as prostitutes, including five minors.

The indictment details alleged abuses of the women including guarding the victims to prevent their escape; threats of violence to the women and of harm to their families in Guatemala; and beatings to coerce and force the victims into working. According to the indictment, leaders of the conspiracy sometimes helped each other by selling a victim to another defendant who could better control her and by jointly beating a victim who had tried to run away.

“The crimes alleged in this case involve the exploitation for personal gain of young girls rendered vulnerable by their age and desire for a better life,” said U.S. Attorney George S. Cardona. “The defendants played on these vulnerabilities to operate a highly organized trafficking ring in the very heart of Los Angeles for several years, counting on their victims’ fears to prevent their discovery. We hope these charges address these fears by demonstrating that, with the help of the Human Trafficking task force that has been established here in Los Angeles, we will work quickly to protect those who step forward to reveal such rings, and will prosecute those responsible.”

The nine defendants named in the second superseding indictment are:

Gladys Vasquez Valenzuela, 36;
Mirna Jeanneth Vasquez Valenzuela, aka Miriam, 26;
Maria De Los Angeles Vicente, aka Angela, 28;
Albertina Vasquez Valenzuela, aka Christina, 49;
Gabriel Mendez, 33;
Luis Vicente Vasquez, 31;
Pablo Bonifacio, 30;
Flor Morales Sanchez, 33, a new defendant; and
Maribel Rodriguez Vasquez, a new defendant.

Morales Sanchez was arrested this morning and is expected to make her first court appearance this afternoon. Rodriguez Vasquez has been a fugitive since the prostitution ring was first dismantled last year. The remaining seven defendants have been held without bond since December 2006.

“The defendants in this case are accused of dreadful crimes including luring desperate women to the U.S. with false promises only to enrich themselves by forcing their victims into prostitution and slavery. The FBI and our partners with the Human Trafficking Task Force in Los Angeles are dedicated to finding victims of human trafficking, who endure horrific abuse under appalling conditions, and to finding those responsible for their suffering,” said J. Stephen Tidwell, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Office.

The investigation into the sex trafficking ring began after a source came forward and contacted authorities in October 2006. Two victims were liberated by law enforcement authorities in November. Additional victims were rescued and seven of the defendants were taken into custody in December.

“These young women were enticed into coming to this country by promises of the American dream, only to arrive and discover that what awaited was a nightmare,” said Robert Schoch, special agent in charge for the ICE office of investigations in Los Angeles. “The filing of sex trafficking charges in this case underscores ICE’s resolve to work with its law enforcement partners to ensure that those who engage in this reprehensible form of exploitation are brought to justice.”

The charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The investigation into the alien smuggling ring was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General and the Los Angeles Police Department, all of which are participants in the Los Angeles Human Trafficking Task Force. The case is being jointly prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline C. Wittcoff and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Cyra O’Daniel of the Civil Rights Division.

Human trafficking prosecutions are a top priority of the Justice Department. In the last six fiscal years, the Civil Rights Division, in conjunction with U.S. Attorneys Offices, has increased by six-fold the number of human trafficking cases filed in court. In 2006, the Department obtained a record number of convictions in human trafficking prosecutions.

(New York, New York) – LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Asaro has joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as a partner in the litigation practice in New York, the firm announced today. Mr. Asaro is the 14th former federal prosecutor to join the firm’s white-collar criminal defense practice. He will focus on SEC investigations, white collar criminal defense, corporate internal investigations and commercial litigation.

Immediately prior to joining Akin Gump, Mr. Asaro served for five years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York, most recently as deputy chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section. He previously served for four years as an enforcement attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and as a branch chief.

“Michael’s dual experience at the SEC and the U.S. Attorney’s Office provides him with the rare insight that companies and their executives require in this environment of heightened government scrutiny,” said Steve Pesner, head of Akin Gump’s New York litigation practice and a member of the firm’s executive committee. “He is a significant addition to our highly successful white-collar and securities regulatory practices.”

At the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Asaro prosecuted numerous complex and high-profile securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, bribery and money laundering cases. He was the lead prosecutor responsible for several such cases, including United States v. William G. Brown, et al. (prosecution of over a dozen defendants who participated in $20 million “boiler room” securities fraud scheme), United States v. Guillaume Pollet (first criminal insider trading case involving PIPE transactions), United States v. Frank Furino (prosecution of NYSE floor clerk for bribery and insider trading) and United States v. Kenneth E. Mahaffy, Jr., et al. (front-running prosecution involving stock brokers from several major brokerage firms).

As a branch chief in the SEC’s New York office, Mr. Asaro oversaw a wide variety of regulatory investigations and enforcement actions. He was the lead counsel for many of these investigations, including a market manipulation investigation that resulted in fraud charges against a billion-dollar mutual fund and a financial fraud investigation that resulted in a settled regulatory action against a major health insurance company. Also during his tenure at the SEC, Mr. Asaro was appointed as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he was part of the trial team that successfully prosecuted the former CEO of a publicly traded company who orchestrated a multimillion-dollar “pump and dump” securities fraud scheme.

Mr. Asaro received his B.S. in 1995 from Boston University and his J.D. magna cum laude in 1998 from Brooklyn Law School, where he served as the editor in chief of the Brooklyn Journal of International Law.

Mr. Asaro stated, “I was well aware of Akin Gump’s stellar reputation, even before joining the firm, from my years as a white-collar prosecutor and SEC enforcement attorney. I am honored to be joining the firm and look forward to working closely with its team of first-rate litigators, including my friends and former colleagues at the Justice Department, Rich Zabel, Jim Benjamin, Doug Maynard, Robert Hotz and Samidh Guha.”

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a leading international law firm, numbers more than 900 lawyers with offices in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Dubai, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Taipei and Washington. The firm has a diversified practice and represents regional, national and international clients in a wide range of areas, including antitrust; appellate; banking and finance; capital markets; communications and information technology; corporate and securities; corporate governance; employee benefits; energy; entertainment and media; environmental; financial restructuring; global security; government contracts; health; insurance; intellectual property; international trade; investment funds; labor and employment; land use; litigation; mergers and acquisitions; private client services; private equity; privatization; project development and finance; public law and policy; real estate development and finance; Russia/CIS; tax; and technology. For additional information, please visit our Web site at akingump.com.