HAMMOND – Rita Law, 60, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced
by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen today to serve 360 months
in federal prison after being found guilty, following a 3-week jury trial in
February 2017, of two counts of trafficking and servitude, one count of
transporting a person across state lines with intent that they engage in
prostitution, and one count of using an interstate facility to promote
prostitution, announced U.S. Attorney Thomas L Kirsch, II.
The trial evidence established that Law provided and
obtained the labor and services of two victims, HV and XC, by means of a scheme
to cause them to believe that if they did not perform the labor and services
she demanded, they would suffer serious harm or physical restraint. Law was
convicted of causing both women to work at her “spas” in northwest Indiana,
where they were expected to and did engage in sexual acts in exchange for money
with Law’s predominantly male clientele. Law’s businesses were “Duneland Spa”
in Lake Station and Gary, Indiana and “Fun Fun Feet” in Hobart, Indiana. In sentencing Law, the court took into
consideration her attempt to flee from the United States to Hong Kong in
October 2013 after learning she was under investigation.
In announcing Law’s sentence, U.S. Attorney Kirsch described
her offense conduct as “nothing short of diabolical.” “She used the American
dream to lure unsuspecting women to the United States so she could enslave them
for her own financial benefit.” Kirsch also said “My office’s willingness to
extradite Rita Law from Hong Kong and pursue additional charges against her
thereafter should serve as a warning to all those committing crime in the
Northern District of Indiana – attempting to flee the country will not prevent
my office from bringing you to justice.” “Sex trafficking of foreign and
domestic victims will not be tolerated in the Northern District of Indiana as
long as I am United States Attorney” he concluded.
“Let this sentence serve as a reminder that modern day
slavery will not be tolerated,” said Special Agent in Charge James M. Gibbons,
Homeland Security Investigations Chicago. “HSI will continue to work
relentlessly with its law enforcement partners to bring those to justice who
attempt to circumvent the law for financial gain.”
"This sentence cannot begin to compare to the trauma
these victims were subjected to, and the life altering consequences they now
face because they put their trust and faith in the defendant,” said Grant
Mendenhall, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis Division. “The
FBI will continue working with our law enforcement partners to aggressively
identify and pursue the perpetrators of the devastating crime of human trafficking.”
This case resulted from a joint investigation by Homeland
Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with
assistance from the following additional law enforcement agencies: the Gary Indiana Police Department; the Oak
Forest Illinois Police Department; the Hammond Indiana Police Department, the
Hobart Indiana Police Department, the Lake Station Indiana Police Department,
the Lake County Indiana Sheriff’s Office, the Indiana State Police, the United
States Marshal’s Service, the Hong Kong Police and the HSI Hong Kong Attaché.
U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch, Homeland Security
Investigations Special Agent in Charge James Gibbons, and Federal Bureau of
Investigation Special Agent in Charge Grant Mendenhall also thanked the following
community organizations for providing services to HV and XC during the
investigation and prosecution: Asian
Human Services of Chicago, IL; Haven House of Hammond, IN; Cornerstone
Community Outreach of Chicago, IL; and Heartland Alliance in Chicago, IL.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States
Attorneys Jill Koster and Abizer Zanzi.
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