Thursday, March 19, 2009

Feds accuse Miami man of forcing immigrant women into prostitution
Doug Guthrie

DETROIT -- A Miami man was charged today in U.S. District Court in Detroit for a scheme that allegedly blackmailed women into prostitution under the threat of physical harm, death or exposure to officials of their illegal immigration status.

Rafael Bernabe-Caballero, 32, was indicted on multiple counts of sex trafficking by force, prostitution and importation of an alien for immoral purposes.

Another man named in the indictment, Michael Porru, is to be arraigned next week.

The 21-page indictment alleges that Bernabe-Caballero ran a multi-state prostitution ring between March 2007 and November 2008, using the Web site www.miamiultimate.com to market women and solicit johns.

The operation was shut down by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The seized Web site now has contact information for the ICE Office of Investigations in Detroit in an effort to collect information on more possible victims and clients.

According to the indictment, Bernabe-Caballero recruited women for an escort service, but then forced them into sex acts with his Web site's customers.

You can reach Doug Guthrie at ( dguthrie@detnews.com.



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