1.
Mother said Josh Powell threatened her
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Five people were given long prison terms for using threats from witch doctors to force young Guatemalan women into prostitution, officials in Los Angeles said.
The defendants, members of an extended family from Guatemala, used threats of physical violence to keep the women in line, including threats of curses delivered by witch doctors, officials said.
"There were at least 10 victims who were forced into becoming prostitutes under a variety of threats, as well as actual physical attacks that included rapes," U.S. Attorney Tom O'Brien said in a written statement issued Tuesday.
The release said the suspects lured the women to the Los Angeles area and forced them work long hours while keeping nearly all the money they earned. The women were also locked in at night to prevent them from escaping.
The defendants, four women and a male, received sentences ranging from 30 to 40 years in prison during a federal court hearing late Monday.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Additional Top News Stories | |
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (UPI) --
The late Steve Jobs, co-founder of the U.S. computer giant Apple, had faults in his personal life but was a business visionary, associates told the FBI.
|
NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (UPI) --
Macaulay Culkin is in "perfectly good health," his publicist said after the former child star was photographed looking gaunt and disheveled in New York.
|
TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 9 (UPI) --
The Israeli government plans to build a floating liquefied natural gas terminal with a sea-based defense radar system off its Mediterranean coast while forming a naval force to protect its rich offshore gas fields against terrorist attack.
|
UPI Almanac for Friday, Feb. 10, 2012.
|
| Stories | Photos | People | Comments |
View Caption
