PHOENIX (LAWFUEL) – Hanoi Barbaro Acosta, 30, of Portland, Oregon, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn O. Silver to 21 years and 10 months in the Bureau of Prisons. Acosta was found guilty of Interstate Transportation of a Minor for Prostitution, by a federal jury in Phoenix. The trial began on May 13, 2008, and the jury reached its verdict on May 23, 2008.
The evidence at trial showed that from June 28, 2007 through July 3, 2007, Acosta transported his sixteen-year old victim and three other adult females from Portland, Oregon, to Las Vegas, Nevada, to Inglewood, California, and then to Mesa, Arizona, so that they could work for him as prostitutes. He forced the juvenile to engage in prostitution through death threats and a severe beating in Inglewood, California. Mesa Police rescued the victim after she called her mother pleading for help.
The investigation leading to the guilty verdict was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mesa Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Tracey A. Bardorf and Steven P. Logan, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-07-871-PHX-ROS
RELEASE NUMBER: 2008-271(Acosta)
