Woman Accused In Human Trafficking Case Pleads Guilty To Money Laundering Charge

ST. MARTIN, MS (WLOX) - 

An emotional Yeon Sook Hwang broke down in tears as she entered a guilty plea in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The 41-year-old managed a massage parlor in St. Martin that was reportedly a front for a prostitution operation.

Hwang initially pleaded not guilty, but decided to plead guilty as part of a plea agreement that dropped other charges against her. She now faces a maximum 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

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Man On Fire: A Former Federal Agent Puts The Breaks On Global Child Trafficking

Joel Randell

 

May 25, 2016

Human trafficking generates $32 billion a year off the backs of more than 27 million people—and nearly two million of them are children. Former CIA and Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard is on a global crusade to save each and every child, and bankrupt the entire trafficking system.

To help fortify the international sting operations conducted by his organization Operation Underground Railroad, Ballard teamed up with Oscar-winning producer Gerald Molen (Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List) for the recent theatrical release of The Abolitionists. The documentary chronicles the stories of children lost, and the O.U.R. team’s exploits as they infiltrate and liberate enslaved children around the world.

Two Tennessee Pastors Arrested In Sex Trafficking Sting

Jason Kennedy, 46 (INSET, bottom left), served as a children's minister at Grace Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., while Zubin Parakh, 32 (INSET- top left and main) is no longer listed as "Creative Pastor" at Life House Church in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
 
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Christian Post) — Two pastors left their churches in shock after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Friday that they were among 32 men arrested for patronizing prostitution and human trafficking charges.

The pastors, Jason Kennedy, 46, who served as a children's minister at Grace Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, has since been fired, while Zubin Parakh, 32, is no longer listed as creative pastor at Life House Church in Oak Ridge. He can be seen ministering in this video.

The Christian Examiner reports

Members Of Congress Urge DOJ To Fully Implement Human Trafficking Law

Posted: Wednesday, May 25, 2016 1:49 pm | Updated: 2:35 pm, Wed May 25, 2016.

By Community Reports

 

Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX-02) , along with Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-12), Ann Wagner (R-MO-02), and Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03), held a joint press conference May 25 to call on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to fully implement the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA) of 2015. Nearly a year after JVTA became law, the Members expressed concern that the DOJ has yet to implement the entirety of the law. Lack of implementation would thwart Congressional efforts to combat modern day slavery.

Read more from Houston, Texas Your News

4 Questions the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Should Ask About the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report

Today, in advance of this year’s release of the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, five senior State Department officials will be briefing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a closed-door hearing. Following concerted criticism around last year’s report and specific concerns about the politicization of a number of country rankings, this year’s report will face additional scrutiny. Consistency in determining country rankings based on each government’s efforts to combat human trafficking and supporting evidence for those rankings will be essential for the TIP report to remain a credible and effective tool in combatting this modern day form of slavery that claims an estimated 20.9 million victims each year.

Last year the ranking of Malaysia sparked substantial concern when it was upgraded from Tier 3, the lowest ranking, to Tier 2 Watch List. Malaysia’s anti-trafficking efforts during the reporting period were meager at best, and the 2015 TIP report failed to provide substantial evidence that Malaysia had improved its efforts to combat human trafficking since 2014, when the country exhibited a rapidly declining rate of investigations, prosecutions, and convictions.

Read more at The Huffington Post

Ex-Judicial Marshal Accused Of Sex Trafficking Must Decide On Plea Deal

Former Waterbury judicial marshal Michael A. Connelly, accused of promoting prostitution and human trafficking while posing as a law enforcement officer, must decide by Thursday whether to take a plea bargain that would send him to prison for one year.

If he agrees to the deal, the prosecutor in the case will have done something only one other prosecutor has done in Connecticut – win a conviction under the state's 10-year-old anti-human trafficking law, a law that has come under fire in recent weeks when questions about its lack of use were raised at the state Capitol.

Prosecutor Susan W. Hatfield of the Office of the Chief State's Attorney made the offer last month to Connelly, an employee of the state for three decades and the brother of former longtime Waterbury state's attorney John Connelly, who died in 2012.

Read more from CTNOW 

LPD Arrest 2 In Human-Trafficking Incident

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) — Two men were arrested in Lafayette following an investigation in a human-trafficking case.

Lafayette police were called to a reported disturbance Saturday on the 2700 block of Underwood Street. During the investigation, officers said a victim of human-trafficking was found.

Two days later, Lafayette police arrested two out-of-town men allegedly connected to the case.

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