Saturday, May 5, 2012

3 guilty, 6 acquitted in Minn.-to-Tenn. Somali girl sex ring

By Michael Winter, USA TODAY

A federal jury has convicted three men but acquitted five others and one woman of involvement in the sex trafficking of Somali girls in Minnesota and Tennessee.

The nine are among 30 people indicted for allegedly trafficking or conspiring to traffic juveniles in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Nashville, Tenn., and Columbus, Ohio. The other 21, including two women, may face trial in the future.

In Nashville today, Idris Ibrahim Fahra, Andrew Kayachith and Yassin Abdirahman Yusuf, all of the Twin Cities, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion,the Associated Press reports. They were also charged with child sex trafficking and attempted child sex trafficking; only Fahra was convicted of child sex trafficking.

All could be sentenced to life. No sentencing date was set.

The jury of six men and six women, which deliberated five days after the three-week trial, acquitted Faduma Mohamed Farah, Ahmad Abnulnasir Ahmad, Musse Ahmed Ali, Fatah Haji Hashi, Dahir Nor Ibrahim and Mohamed Ahmed Amalle.

Farah, who like Fahra is from Ethiopia, still faces prosecution for allegedly lying on her application for permanent U.S. residency.

Prosecutors accused the nine of belonging to gangs mostly run by Somali refugees. Six are of Somali descent. Kayachith is U.S. born and of Laotian descent.

A Somali identified only as Jane Doe No. 2 testified that gang members forced her into prostitution when she was 12 years old. Fahra's lawyer claimed that Jane Doe No. 2 was a runaway who was an adult, and was fed information from a St. Paul, Minn., police investigator.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Van Vincent said outside the federal courthouse in Nashville that despite the split verdict, the jury found that sex trafficking did occur and that the government would continue to prosecute the case.

The U.S. attorney in Nashville has more details about the charges.

Source: USA Today



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