Law means stiffer penalties for human trafficking
Date: Thursday, February 24 @ 03:18:30 EST
Topic: Human Trafficking


By JANINE A. ZEITLIN, jazeitlin@naplesnews.com
October 1, 2004
Naples Daily News

Human trafficking combatants applaud a state law with stiffer penalties taking effect today but some worry authorities aren't ready to enforce it.

The new law makes sex trafficking ­ which wasn't even recognized as a crime in Florida law before ­ a second-degree felony. If a victim is younger than 14, it's a first-degree felony that could carry up to 30 years behind bars.

Another change allows state prosecutors to take down trafficking rings with penalties used for organized crime.

"It gives you another arrow in your sling," said Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy in Fort Myers. "This problem is insidious. The words America and slavery should never be in the same sentence."

The state law almost mirrors existing federal law, he said.

Florida, New York and California are considered the three main hubs for international human trafficking. Molloy has worked on six or seven cases in Southwest Florida in the past six years. He's got four investigations under way.

Cases here involved a housekeeper trapped in a Collier County mansion who was forced to hide food scraps in the garbage for nourishment; women lured from Mexico with promises of better lives but forced to have sex with 20 men a night in Naples and Bonita Springs; and indentured servitude in Collier agricultural fields.

The new law allows state authorities to pursue cases. Human trafficking cases fell to federal agents before.

Anna Rodriguez, a Collier resident who started an immigrant rights center for Southwest Florida, does human trafficking training for the U.S. Department of Justice. She doesn't think state and local authorities are properly trained yet.

"Every time we talk about Florida, the state law enforcement (officers) are like, 'What?' No one seems to know," said Rodriguez, who began investigating cases in her former job as a Collier sheriff's victim advocate.

"You're talking about 67 counties where some counties might have more than one law enforcement agency, judges, prosecutors and victim services that have no clue as to what is human trafficking."

She's chasing three cases in Lee and Collier. One is a forced labor case that could tie in more than 200 victims among Broward, Dade and Collier counties, she said.

"Until I see there's more awareness, my cases are going to be referred to the federal level," Rodriguez said.

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman said it hasn't incorporated training on the new human trafficking law into the curriculum of 39 law enforcement academies throughout the state.

"I'm not sure if it will be in the future," said Kristen Perezluha, an FDLE spokeswoman, noting that the training is decided by a 19-member state commission.

Rodriguez and Lt. Bill Rule, the Collier Sheriff's Office lead on human trafficking cases, say it's crucial to incorporate such training into the ABC's of Florida law enforcement.

"It's very important to include human trafficking into academy training," Rule said. "Once they're here, they're virtual slaves. They just don't stand out. It's very important to teach law enforcement certain signs to look for."

Trafficking victims don't come forward, experts say, because they're scared or don't believe they have rights because many are here illegally.

Rule estimates about 80 Collier sheriff's employees took part in a two-hour training on the new law with a Miami-based nonprofit agency in August. Another session is slated for October, he said.

Ileana Limarzi, a Lee Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, said law enforcers haven't been trained on it yet but will be: "As far as when ... that's still in the works at this point."

Chere Avery, a State Attorney's Office spokeswoman, said the new law was incorporated into its June training.

"Do we have a first case yet? No, but our prosecutors are very much aware of it," she said.

Florida State University's Center for the Advancement of Human Rights is using part of a $250,000 state grant to beef up training for state law enforcers and social service providers. Awareness is still lacking, a spokesman said.

"They may not have had one of these cases arrive squarely on their desks yet," said Terry Coonan, the center's executive director. "We suspect that human trafficking is far more pervasive than the statistics suggest."

Between 18,000 and 50,000 people are trafficked into the United States a year, according to the center's 2004 report.

With federal agents tied up with homeland security concerns, the new law frees state authorities to pursue cases, he said.

"Post 9/11, most of the federal law enforcement has been focused on anti-terrorism," he said. "The feds have been good but they've been stretched. It's not surprising that we haven't gotten the training or awareness. It's a hidden crime."

By asking a few questions, Molloy stresses in his training, law enforcers or prosecutors can sniff out if they have more than cut-and-dried domestic violence or disturbance calls under their noses.

If poor people are arguing about a debt of $2,000 to $3,000, that debt could involve a person, Molloy said, noting:

"When your possessions don't total over $700, why are they discussing a $2,000 debt?"

Traffickers often trap their victims with a high-interest debt ­ typically what victims fork over to cross the border from poor countries ­ that captors force victims to work off. Captors often make it impossible to wipe the debt away.

They keep victims close with physical and psychological threats.

He cautions authorities from trusting anyone who offers to interpret. They could be involved in the network.

Molloy said prosecutors will decide whether to apply state or federal laws to get the offender behind bars the longest. The federal law has the potential to lock up career criminals longer, he said, adding that there likely will be more local investigations with the state law.

"We don't stand on ceremony. There are no turf battles," he said. "I don't really care which jail is it. ... I've just got to make it not profitable to be in slavery."






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