CR (202) 616-2777WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
THREE MEN PLEAD GUILTY TO SEX TRAFFICKING
OF RUSSIAN MINORS
WASHINGTON D.C. Three people pled guilty yesterday in Alaska to bringing two sixteen-year-old Russian girls to dance nude in a strip club in Anchorage, Alaska. The defendants also pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining visas for those girls and four other Russian women who were brought to Alaska to dance in strip clubs.
Victor Nikolayevich Virchenko, Pavel Vasilievich Agafonov and Tony Kennard all pled guilty in federal district court to six counts of immigration fraud. Kennard pled guilty to two counts of transporting minors for illegal sexual activity; Agafonov and Virchenko pled guilty to one count of transporting minors for illegal sexual activity. Virchenko is a Russian national, Agafonov is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and Tony Kennard is a U.S. citizen.
The maximum statutory punishment is 15 years in custody and a fine of $250,000 for each felony count of transporting minors for illegal sexual activity, and 10 years in custody and a fine of $250,000 for each felony count of immigration fraud. The sentencing for all three men is scheduled for August 24, 2001.
The Russian victims, who were brought to the United States in December 2000, were freed from the defendants by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in January, 2001. The women and girls have temporary legal immigration status and are being housed in a safe location.
"Sex trafficking of minors is a heinous crime," said Attorney General John Ashcroft. "Yesterday's guilty pleas should put those who engage in the exploitation of women and children on notice that the Justice Department will be relentless in bringing perpetrators of this kind of abuse to justice."
The prosecution is the result of a coordinated effort of the National Worker Exploitation Task Force, an interagency effort that brings together different agencies to combat the problem of trafficking in persons and modern-day slavery in the United States. The case, which was investigated jointly by INS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Anchorage Police Department, is being prosecuted by the Criminal Section of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska.
Individuals can report other cases of trafficking or slavery to the National Worker Exploitation Task Force complaint line, at 1-888-428-7581. More information about the Task Force can be found at: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/crim/tpwetf.htm.
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