Two Men Charged With Federal Human Trafficking Violations
United States Attorney Thomas Scott Woodward announced that a federal grand jury indictment was returned charging two men with human trafficking. They were arraigned today in Federal Court.
Ignacio Ijom-Brito and Antonio Felix Velasquez-Lopez are charged with Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and Coercion. The defendants allegedly required a woman from Mexico to prostitute herself for their financial gain. Ijom-Brito and Velasquez-Lopez allegedly kept the woman in an apartment where she was forced and coerced to have sex with multiple men. Both Ijom-Brito and Velasquez-Lopez are illegal aliens.
The men were arrested by local, state and federal law enforcement agents at a Tulsa apartment on January 19, 2012. The case is being prosecuted in federal court because the victim was transported across state lines and because the commercial sex trade affects interstate commerce.
Assistant United States Attorneys Allen J. Litchfield and R. Trent Shores are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States. The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.
If the defendants are found guilty of the charges, they face a prison term of not less than 15 years up to life imprisonment.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at later criminal proceedings.
