Volume 8
sional tip offered by a sex buyer.
As set forth in the indictment, other members of the
criminal organization served as “facilitators,” who
were primarily responsible for laundering the criminal proceeds of the organization and for directing
the movement of victims within the United States,
while other co-conspirators served as “runners.”
The runners were typically men who were paid,
in part, by receiving access to sex acts with the
women.
Runners accompanied the women anytime they
were permitted to leave a house of prostitution to
obtain personal items, travel as directed by the
criminal organization or deposit money into accounts set up by the organization for repayment of
the women’s debts. Runners were also sometimes
asked to rent hotel rooms, apartments or other facilities for the organization.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team
(ACTeam) Initiative
Oct/Nov 2016 Edition
tors and federal investigative agencies.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by HSI; IRS-CI; Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; St. Paul Police Department; Anoka County, Minnesota, Sheriff’s Office;
and Cook County, Minnesota, Sheriff’s Office, with
the support of the International Organized Crime
Intelligence and Operations Center.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melinda Williams and
Laura Provinzino of the District of Minnesota are
prosecuting the case with the assistance of the
Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
To learn more about DOJ intitiatives, please visit
https://www.justice.gov/
For more insight into Human Trafficking, Poverty
& Sex, visit http://spreadtheflame.com/2011/06/
insight-thailand-trafficking-poverty-prostitution/
The District of Minnesota is one of six districts designated through a competitive, nationwide selection process as a Phase II ACTeam, through the
interagency ACTeam Initiative of the Departments
of Justice, Homeland Security and Labor.
(The Departments of Justice, Labor and Homeland Security announced the launch of Phase II of
the Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam)
Initiative aimed at streamlining federal criminal investigations and prosecutions of human trafficking
offenses. Courtesy of the Justice Department and
YouTube)
ACTeams focus on developing high-impact human
trafficking investigations and prosecutions involving forced labor, international sex trafficking and
sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion through
interagency collaboration among federal prosecu-
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