CRT (202) 514-2008WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
ALASKA MAN SENTENCED TO 30 MONTHS FOR IMMIGRATION FRAUD AND
TRANSPORTING MINORS FROM RUSSIA TO DANCE IN AN ANCHORAGE STRIP CLUB
WASHINGTON, D.C. A Russian national, Victor Nikolayevich Virchenko, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, Alaska yesterday for his involvement in a scheme to traffic both adult women and under age girls into Alaska to dance nude in strip clubs, the Justice Department announced. Virchenko was sentenced today to 30 months in prison, following which he will be deported.
Previously, Virchenko pleaded guilty in federal district court to six counts of immigration fraud and one count of transporting minors. Virchenko's co-defendants Pavel Agafonov, a naturalized U.S. citizen, and Tony Kennard, a U.S. citizen, also pled guilty on June 15, 2001. They will be sentenced later this week.
The Russian victims, who were brought to the United States in December 2000, were freed from the defendants by the INS in January, 2001. The women and girls have temporary legal immigration status and are being housed in a safe location.
The case was investigated and indicted soon after the victims were freed, in order to prevent Virchenko from fleeing the country. He was arrested at the Anchorage International Airport as he attempted to leave with the two minor children.
"The Department of Justice will not tolerate the inhumane treatment of people in America," said Civil Rights Assistant Attorney General Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. "Today's sentence is one of the many steps we are taking to end the growing problem of modern day human trafficking and its toll on the most vulnerable people of our society."
The convictions are the result of a coordinated effort of the Trafficking In Persons and 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 the INS, FBI, and the Anchorage Police Department, was 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 Trafficking In Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force complaint line, at 1-888-428-7581. Additional information about the Task Force can be found at: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/crim/tpwetf.htm
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