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Suspects in sex trafficking case remanded to US Marshal
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Posted on May 04 2012
U.S. District Court for the NMI designated judge David A. Wiseman has remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal one of two suspects in a sex trafficking case.
At an initial court appearance Thursday afternoon, Wiseman ordered Yanchun Li to be detained, subject to a motion by his counsel for a detention hearing.
Wiseman set the arraignment for Tuesday, May 8.
The judge granted court-appointed counsel Mark Scoggins’ request to appoint an interpreter for his client.
Wiseman unsealed the case. Assistant U.S. attorneys Rami Badawy and Garth Backe appeared for the U.S. government at the hearing.
Li and his co-defendant, Wei Lin, were indicted on a charge of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and to benefit financially from a sex trafficking venture; three counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and one count of financial benefiting from a sex trafficking venture.
The court has appointed a counsel for Lin, but no schedule for his hearing has been set yet.
Saipan Tribune learned that Lin is in jail for another criminal case.
Li and Lin allegedly conspired to recruit women from China on empty promises of jobs at a hotel on Saipan and then forced them to engage in commercial sex once they got here.
