The braid trade: N.J. man smuggled girls who do hair

Thursday, March 19, 2009 1:27 AM EDT

By The Associated Press




NEWARK — A Togolese citizen living in New Jersey has admitted his role in the smuggling of girls and young women who were forced to work at hair braiding salons in Newark and East Orange.

During a federal court appearance Wednesday in Newark, 32-year-old Dereck Hounakey — a legal permanent U.S. resident who lives in East Orange — pleaded guilty to conspiring with his mother and others to commit forced labor and related charges.

Prosecutors say that between October 2002 and September 2007 at least 20 girls and young women were brought from Togo using fraudulent visas.

The girls were forced to work six or seven days a week and to turn over all of their earnings to the defendants.

Hounakey faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced June 22.

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