June 26, 2007

Livonia man sentenced to 14 years for forcing women to work as exotic dancers
Ukrainian women were tricked into traveling to U.S., then forced to work in area strip clubs

DETROIT - A Michigan man was sentenced here yesterday in U.S. District Court to 14 years in prison as one of the ringleaders in an involuntary servitude and money-laundering conspiracy. This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy, Eastern District of Michigan; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent-in-Charge Brian Moskowitz; and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Andrew G. Arena.

Aleksandr Maksimenko, 27, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in the Ukraine, resided in Livonia, Mich. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Victoria A. Roberts to 168 months in prison for his part as a ringleader in a conspiracy that forced Eastern European women to work as exotic dancers in Detroit-area strip clubs. He must also pay $1.5 million in restitution to the victims.

ICE began the investigation after receiving information that Eastern European women were being trafficked in the Detroit area under the guise of legitimate business. Maksimenko admitted that he and his partners smuggled women into the United States and compelled them through threats and coercion to work as dancers in strip clubs. Maksimenko and his partners took a number of steps to maintain compliance from the women, including: confiscating the dancers' passports, imposing large debts, enforcing rules designed to isolate the dancers from potential rescuers through interrogations, assessing monetary penalties, physical violence and threats, searching the dancers' apartments, and threatening to turn the dancers in to authorities because of their illegal immigration status.

"These criminals preyed upon the hopes and dreams of these victims who came to the U.S. for the sole purpose of bettering their lot in life, only to be forced into a life of enslavement, subjected to sexual exploitation, physical violence and isolation," said Moskowitz, special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Detroit. "ICE will continue to vigorously pursue organizations that callously trade human cargo with no regard for the health or dignity these women, all while reaping the illegal profits from their suffering."

"The defendants in this case took advantage of innocent women from Eastern Europe by enticing them to come to the United States, and then holding them in bondage for commercial and sexual exploitation," said U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy. "In sentencing Mr. Maksimenko to 14 years in prison, the Court underscored the gravity of this type of crime. Criminal operations involving human trafficking, such as this one, will be pursued with the greatest vigor by my office."

"With promises of good money, his only intent was to make lots of bad money," said IRS Special Agent in Charge Maurice Aouate. "IRS-CI continues to work with the law enforcement community to financially disrupt any criminal organization and attack the fuel of their criminal conduct."

"The FBI is committed to working with its law enforcement partners to investigate aggressively allegations of human trafficking," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Arena.

Maksimenko is the fourth of nine defendants to be sentenced for crimes associated with this trafficking conspiracy. Still to be sentenced is another of the ringleaders of the scheme Michail Aronov, a Lithuanian citizen from the Chicago area, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the civil rights of the dancers through involuntary servitude, as well as immigration, money laundering, and obstruction conspiracies. Aronov is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 16.

Three other individuals were already sentenced as a part of this conspiracy:

• Duay Jado, 28, a Greek citizen who has previously been ordered deported by an immigration judge, was sentenced to 46 months after pleading guilty to charges of interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises act. He was responsible for the fire bombing of dancer Tatiana Golovina's automobile.
• Evgeniy Prokopenko, 28, and Alexander Bondarenko, 28, both Ukrainian citizens, were sentenced to time served and processed for deportation after pleading guilty to visa fraud. They each entered into sham marriages for the purpose of securing visas for dancers.

The investigation and prosecution of others in this case continues. ICE, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division, and the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service are providing investigative assistance.

Assistant U.S Attorney Mark Chutkow and Lou de Baca, Senior Litigation Counsel at the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section, are prosecuting the case. Peter Ziedas, Assistant U.S. Attorney is handling the asset forfeiture part of the case.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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