The life of a trafficking victim

From the NY Post:

Sandra, 30, is one former sex slave helped by Sanctuary for Families. Kidnapped from her hardscrabble hometown in central Mexico and forced into the sex trade at age 19, she escaped her pimp-captor in 2011 and has received counseling, legal aid and health care from the group ever since. Wanting to protect her family, Sandra declined to provide her last name.

Here she tells her story:

On a good day, I’d only have to sleep with 30 men.

I always wore a tight, short skirt and stilettos. Alfredo was my “padrote” (pimp), and he arranged for different drivers to take me through Corona, Jackson Heights and sometimes Brooklyn. I would nod off in the car. I had a different driver every week.

On a bad day, when we left New York and went to Long Island or Connecticut, I couldn’t rest. One day, over the span of 16 consecutive hours in Boston, there were 80 men.

Alfredo beat me, refused to give me food or even water. The drivers he worked with advertised women on a “chica card” that they handed out to potential clients as they stumbled out of cheap nightclubs in Queens and Brooklyn.

I was also forced to hand out the cards to potential customers. Sometimes the cards had pictures of nude women. Other times they advertised children’s birthday parties. Everyone knew what the cards really meant; that the number on the back was to arrange deliveries of women.

We were delivered like pizzas.

Most of the men were day laborers. But some were well dressed, in suits. If they spoke Spanish, they paid $35 for 15 minutes, but if they spoke in English, the price went up to $45. For that price, the men could do whatever they wanted with me.

People think that prostitutes somehow enjoy what they do, but I can tell you that’s not true.

I had never been a prostitute. I did nothing wrong, but I was raped every day for the four years that I was a prisoner.

Bayside housekeeper tortured by employers

From the Queens Courier:

A cleaning woman was kidnapped, beaten and burned by the Bayside couple she worked for as they accused her of stealing money and jewels from their home and threatened to kill her if she didn’t return the goods, police said.

The 54-year-old victim’s employers, Devanand and Ambar Lachman, and a third unknown person confronted her inside the couple’s 217th Street residence at about 1 p.m. on Feb 13, claiming that she took their money and jewelry.

In an apparent attempt to make the woman confess, they burned her eyebrows and leg with what was possibly a plumber’s torch, and also beat her repeatedly with the object, police said.

The wife then went to the woman’s Port Washington, Long Island home to search for the stolen goods, but came up empty handed, authorities said. She then returned to her Bayside home and all four went back to the cleaning woman’s Port Washington residence around 9 p.m. They told the cleaning woman to get them the cash and jewelry or they would kill her and then left.

Once they were gone, the cleaning woman called the cops and her employers were arrested at their home.

Devanand Lachman, 32, and Ambar Lachman, 31, have both been charged with felony assault, kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment.

Williamsburg slumlord kidnapped & killed

From the Daily News:

A Brooklyn businessman with $4,000 in his wallet was snatched off the street by two men who bound him in duct tape and threw him in a van as a blizzard bore down on the city.

Surveillance video shows landlord Menachem Stark, 39, leaving his office, South Side Associates, on Rutledge St. near the Williamsburg Bridge, about 11:45 p.m. Thursday.

Stark had just managed to trigger his car alarm when he was approached by a lone attacker and a struggle ensued on the snow-swept street, according to a video released by the NYPD early Saturday.

Within moments, a light-colored 2006-2007 Dodge Caravan can be seen on the video pulling up along the sidewalk.

A second man hops out of the vehicle, according to police sources and Stark’s brother, Yitzy Stark.

“They came out of the minivan and went straight for him,” the brother said. “They grabbed him and he fought with them for about five minutes.”

The two men managed to wrestle Stark into the van. Then they sped off with him. Stark has long been strapped with financial trouble, but was still known to carry a lot of cash.

When he didn’t return home Thursday night, Stark’s worried wife reached out to friends, who then notified Shomrim, the neighborhood Orthodox Jewish patrol. The NYPD was alerted hours later — around 2:30 a.m. Friday, police said.

Update from the NY Post:

A smoldering corpse pulled from a Great Neck dumpster is the millionaire Hasidic real estate developer who was dramatically kidnapped outside his real estate office in Williamsburg on Thursday, law enforcement confirmed to The Post.

“He owed a lot of people money,” one source said of Menachem Stark, 39, who had a string of recent foreclosures and owned some 16 mostly vacant or run-down and drug infested properties under at least a dozen corporate names in Queens and in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy and Bushwick neighborhoods.

The father of eight died of suffocation, sources said. His body suffered severe burns to one hand and below the waist; it is not clear if he was set on fire before or after his death.
Stark’s business troubles included his history of defaulting on $51 million in real estate development loans — and a string of related lawsuits.

Investigators are finding a pattern of shady dealings in which he acquire properties and then “lose” the properties by foreclosing on big mortgage and improvement loans, only to have the properties snapped up at bargain basement prices by family members and associates, one law enforcement source said.

Stark was also known as a neighborhood ATM machine — dispensing loans to those in need of quick cash, said a neighborhood source familiar with his business dealings.

“He’s a Hasidic Jew from Williamsburg, and we think he’s a scammer,” said one law enforcement source. “And he f—ed over a few people.”

Brown's been served

From the Village Voice:

Lawyers for whistleblower cop Adrian Schoolcraft today served Queens District Attorney Richard Brown with a subpoena demanding that he give a videotaped deposition and turn over all documents related to Brown's finding that there was no criminal conduct when Schoolcraft was forcibly removed from his home by police commanders in October, 2009, the Voice has learned.

As the Voice's NYPD Tapes series reported, Schoolcraft was dragged out of his home by police on the orders of Deputy Chief Michael Marino on Oct. 31, 2009 and held against his will in the Jamaica Hospital psychiatric ward for six days. This took place three weeks after he reported corruption in Bed-Stuy's 81st Precinct to investigators.

Those allegations were later proven true in a report kept secret by the NYPD for nearly two years before it was disclosed in the Voice last March. Schoolcraft's lawsuit alleges he was forced into the psych ward as retaliation for talking to investigators.

It's fairly rare for a sitting district attorney to be hit with a subpoena in connection with a case he oversaw. But then, the Schoolcraft story is anything but routine. It may be the most embarrassing episode of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's long tenure. And the list of unanswered questions about Schoolcraft's treatment could fill a book.

Brown's statement clearing police and hospital officials of criminal wrongdoing in the incident was released in mid-December. In the statement, Brown said the investigation took "three years" and was "comprehensive." "After thoroughly reviewing all of the available evidence and considering all applicable provisions of law we have concluded that there is no credible evidence to support the filing of criminal charges in this matter," he wrote.

The timing of the statement was odd. Even people intimately familiar with the Schoolcraft affair didn't know any investigation was taking place. Schoolcraft himself was only interviewed once by prosecutors in Brown's office for just 90 minutes. He wasn't even notified before Brown's office released the statement. And the announcement also came at a time when Schoolcraft was between lawyers, and therefore, more vulnerable.

"One would think that the Queens DA's office would first consult with the complainant before sending out the press release," says Peter Gleason, Schoolcraft's lawyer. "DA Brown's so-called comprehensive investigation creates more questions than answers. I'm hopeful a review of his file will lend some clarity to what I characterize as the kidnapping of Adrian Schoolcraft."

Pimp operated out of foreclosed house

From CBS New York:

A Queens couple accused of brutalizing two runaways have been charged with sex trafficking, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced Friday.

Hikeem Green, 38, and his girlfriend Darcell Marshall, 22, allegedly held a 19-year-old from Rockland County and a 20-year-old from New York City in a foreclosed home they illegally occupied.

Green is accused of a raft of crimes in the case: kidnapping, rape, criminal sexual act, sex trafficking, promoting prostitution and more. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted. He’s being held on $800,000 bail.

Marshall is being held on $150,000 bail. She faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

Fat Boy kidnapped; not coming back

From the Daily News:

The city has hatched a secret plan to move a controversial, crumbling public statue out of Queens and into Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, the Daily News has learned.

The Triumph of Civic Virtue, which sits near Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, has been both hailed as a priceless piece of public art worthy of restoration and derided as a sexist eyesore that should be trashed.

The city is mulling plans to replace the statue with a plaza dedicated to famous women from Queens.

Classic work of art to be replaced by a monument to tweeding. Only in Queens.

Fido theft to become a felony

From the Daily News:

State lawmakers want to make it a felony punishable by up to four years in prison to steal a family dog or cat.

"Pets are family members, and we want to make sure they are protected like anybody else," said state Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Nassau), who sponsored the measure.

Marcellino said the bill - which easily passed in the Senate Wednesday - is a response to a spate of dognappings on Long Island.

The family pets, he said, are sometimes taken by the operators of dogfighting rings to be used as "bait" in the training of fighting dogs.

It's currently a misdemeanor to steal family pets.

Jamaica women fear robbery & abduction

From CBS 2:

Police are warning women in Jamaica, Queens to be on high alert for a group of robbers they say are targeting older women getting in and out of their cars.

The robbers are after cash, and in some cases they took their victims hostage to get it, reports CBS 2′s Hazel Sanchez.

Esther Geffner said she’s afraid to go home alone ever since a woman in her neighborhood was nearly abducted by two men with guns.

“I thought, ‘oh my gosh,’” Geffner said. “[It was] in the middle of the day, and she was unloading her groceries.”

The attack happened right before noon on Friday on Marengo Street off McLaughlin Avenue. Police say the 68-year-old victim screamed and scared off the suspects, and now her neighbors are nervous.

Investigators believe a male and female suspect are part of a group of armed thugs preying on older women for cash.

Back in December on Kendrick Place and Mayfield Road, police say two men forced a 58-year-old woman into her car and held her hostage. Meanwhile, a female suspect used the victim’s ATM card to get cash.

The most aggressive attack, thought, happened in April. Police say three suspects approached a 63-year-old woman as she was entering her car, then dragged her to a getaway car. They shoved the victim into the trunk and held her there while a female suspect used her ATM card.

Attempted kidnapping in Flushing

From NY1:

Police in Queens are on the lookout for two men who tried to abduct a 13-year-old girl earlier this week.

Investigators say the teen was walking near the corner of Barclay Avenue and Union Street in Flushing around 6:15 p.m. Wednesday when a black, four-door sedan with tinted windows pulled up next to her.

One of the men tried to pull her inside, but she managed to break free.

Police say both men are in their 40s. One of the suspects was seen wearing a blue and orange Mets jacket.

Pimp fugitive caught in VA

From the NY Post:

A 13-year-old runaway was locked in a ramshackle Jamaica apartment without running water and was pimped out by a Queens man for 10 nightmarish days, officials said yesterday.

Anthony Vargas, 21, was indicted yesterday on a slew of charges for the imprisonment and sex-trafficking. He's being held without bail, and faces 25 years to life in prison.

During a 10-day period, Vargas allegedly had sex with his hostage, and took her to several parts of Queens to pimp her out. When they returned to the dungeon, he allegedly kept her in a small room that she couldn't escape.

Detectives at the NYPD Missing Persons Squad received a tip about the girl on April 12, saying she was sighted at 106-49 Ruscoe St.

The detectives pried open a locked door that led them to the small prison, prosecutors said.

Vargas fled New York and was apprehended in Newport News, Va., two weeks ago.

Chinese gang kidnaps student

From the Daily News:

It didn't take long for a rich Chinese student to become a big man on campus - flashing a lot of cash, picking up big bar tabs and running with a fast crowd.

His free-spending ways caught the eye of a vicious Queens gang, which took him hostage for four days and demanded $3.5 million from his family.

The 24-year-old was terrorized, zapped with a stun gun and warned he would be killed if his rich father didn't cough up cash.

The rare case of stranger abduction ended when the FBI swooped in and rescued the young man - found blindfolded, his head wrapped in duct tape.

"This kid was new to the country - a couple months - had some money, picked up the tab a lot and literally fell in with the wrong crowd," said Michael Harkins, FBI coordinating supervising special agent.

The saga began on the Boston campus of Northeastern University, where the son of a real estate tycoon was in his first year.

Like many new arrivals, the victim - whose name is being withheld by the Daily News - gravitated to other Chinese immigrants.

He met a guy named Xin Lin and his crew at karaoke bars and started making weekend treks from Boston to Queens to hang out.

Lin was no true friend, though. The feds say he was the ringleader of the kidnap plot.

On Sept. 7, he invited the student to breakfast and then suggested a jaunt to a bar.

Four men in the VIP lounge, two with knives, grabbed the student and Lin, who pretended to be a target, officials said.

Queens organized crime ring busted

From the Times Newsweekly:

Three Queens men were among 16 individuals named in a federal indictment for their alleged roles in an international drug trafficking and sales ring, it was announced.

Federal law enforcement agents identified the Queens residents as 44- year-old Skender Cakoni, 35-yearold Nazih Nasser and 33-year-old Gentian Nikolli, who were taken into custody by members of the Joint Organized Crime Task Force, which includes agents from the NYPD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

All of the indicted defendants were variously charged with kidnapping, narcotics trafficking, robbery and firearms possession, according to Preet Bharaha, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who announced the indictment last Tuesday, June 8.

According to the indictment unsealed last week in federal court, the Queens defendants and others named in the indictment were reputed members of the Krasniqi Organization, a racketeering enterprise allegedly engaged in kidnapping, narcotics trafficking, extortion, robbery, and the interstate transportation of stolen goods.

Federal law enforcement sources said the Krasniqi Organization was led by brothers Bruno and Saimir Krasniqi, and operated in New York, Michigan, and Connecticut, among other locations. The Krasniqi Organization reportedly sought to enrich its members through various criminal schemes, including the trafficking of marijuana and used firearms and threats of violence to protect its power and territory, as well as to instill fear among rival drug dealers and victims.

In total, the Krasniqi Organization and their co-conspirators— including Cakoni, Nasser and Nikolli—are charged with having trafficked and distributed more than 100 kilograms of marijuana from 2003 through 2007.

Additionally, the alleged members of the Krasniqi Organization reportedly engaged in robberies and kidnappings. Specifically, on or about June 2005, after obtaining a multi-kilogram load of marijuana from one of the Krasniqi Organization’s marijuana suppliers (CC-1) and one of the co-defendants, several other members of the Krasniqi Organization allegedly used guns and threats of violence to rob CC-1 and the suspect of the marijuana and the marijuana proceeds. Subsequently, the Krasniqi brothers and other coconspirators kidnapped another rival drug dealer at gunpoint.

In addition to these charges, other members of the narcotics conspiracy are charged with firearms offenses. Specifically, after members of the Krasniqi Organization robbed CC-1 and one of the indicted suspects of marijuana and the proceeds of marijuana trafficking, the robbed suspect along with Cakoni and others obtained firearms to protect their narcotics business and attempted to violently retaliate for the robbery of narcotics by members of the Krasniqi Organization.

Queens Craigslist pimp gets 25 years

From the Daily News:

A Queens pimp who "bought" a young woman for $2,000 - and advertised her sex services on Craigslist - was sentenced to 25 years to life.

David Brown, 32, paid $2,000 to an ex-girlfriend for the 19-year-old victim, who was described as homeless and vulnerable.

He took nude pictures of the victim and then posted them online, advertising the woman as a sex slave.

Over 12 days in August 2008 she was forced into sex with 30 men, and Brown collected payments ranging from $60 to $200, prosecutors said.

Brown was convicted on sex trafficking, kidnapping and other charges. He was the first to be charged under a new harsh sex-trafficking law signed by disgraced ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer in June 2007.