NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A Tennessee federal jury split its verdict Friday against nine people accused of operating a sex trafficking ring across three states run mostly by Somali refugee gang members, convicting three men and acquitting six.
The defendants are among 30 who were indicted in the case that spans from Minnesota to Ohio and Tennessee. The jury of six men and six women deliberated over five days this week before returning the verdict. The other defendants were severed from the trial and could face trial at a later date.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Van Vincent said the verdict shows that the jury found that sex trafficking did occur and the government won’t cease prosecuting these cases.
“It’s very important for victims to understand that you can come forward, people will listen and that people can believe what you have to say about the crime,” Vincent said.
A Somali witness identified only as Jane Doe No. 2 testified that she was used as a prostitute by gang members starting at the age of 12. She cried in court as she described being taken to several apartments in around suburban Minneapolis to have sex with other Somali men for money, sometimes as little as $40. ARICLE
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Sharia Comes To A Tennessee Courtroom
According to TwinCities.com, “Suspects facing trial in sex trafficking ring that included Twin Cities”:
The defendants are Abdifatah Jama Adan, Ahmad Abdulnasir Ahmad, Musse Ahmed Ali, Hassan Ahmed Dahir, Faduma Mohamed Farah, Idris Ibrahim Fahra, Abdullahi Hashi, Fatah Haji Hashi, Abdirahman Abderazak Hersi, Dahir Nor Ibrahim, Abdifatah Bashir Jama, Andrew Kayachith, Fuad Faisal Nur, Yasin Abdirhaman Yusuf and Mohamed Ahmed Amalle.
They are accused of running a decades long rape ring that groomed teenage girls, both Americans and Somalian immigrants, to be prostitutes for older men, in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Columbus, Ohio, and Nashville, Tennessee.
The Somali gangs would give the girls money and drugs in exchange for sex.
[victim Jane Doe] was told that using her for prostitution was referred to as a “mission” and other gang members wouldn’t be charged to have sex with her. ARTICLE
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