NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A Tennessee federal jury split its verdict Friday against nine people accused of operating a sex trafficking ring across three states run mostly by Somali refugee gang members, convicting three men and acquitting six.
The defendants are among 30 who were indicted in the case that spans from Minnesota to Ohio and Tennessee. The jury of six men and six women deliberated over five days this week before returning the verdict. The other defendants were severed from the trial and could face trial at a later date.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Van Vincent said the verdict shows that the jury found that sex trafficking did occur and the government won't cease prosecuting these cases.
"It's very important for victims to understand that you can come forward, people will listen and that people can believe what you have to say about the crime," Vincent said.
A Somali witness identified only as Jane Doe No. 2 testified that she was used as a prostitute by gang members starting at the age of 12. She cried in court as she described being taken to several apartments in around suburban Minneapolis to have sex with other Somali men for money, sometimes as little as $40.
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Idris Ibrahim Fahra, Andrew Kayachith and Yassin Abdirahman Yusuf were found guilty of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion. The three men were also charged with child sex trafficking and attempted child sex trafficking, but only Fahra was convicted on one additional count of child sex trafficking.
Fahra faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for the child sex trafficking conviction up to life in prison, and Kayachitch and Yusuf face possible maximum sentences of up to life. No sentencing date has been set.
According to the prosecutors, Idris Fahra, who went by the nickname "Chi Town," had an apartment in St. Paul in 2006 that was used for trafficking of Jane Doe No. 2, who was in the 7th grade at the time, and he would also get to have sex with her for free because he was a member of the gang.
Jane Doe No. 2 also described being taken to Nashville in April 2009 for the purpose of sexual trafficking. Andrew Kayachitch, who went by the nickname "AK," and Yassin Abdirahman Yusuf, who went by the nickname "Junior," were detained in Nashville by police along with Jane Doe No. 2.
Defense attorneys repeatedly questioned whether Jane Doe No. 2 was a juvenile at the time the sex acts occurred because prosecutors revealed on the eve of trial that her birth certificate was falsified. But Vincent said the jury determined she was under the age of 18.
Attorney David Komisar, attorney for Yusuf, said his client was disappointed by the verdict and he plans to fight the conviction.
"He maintains his innocence and we don't think that there was proof that Jane Doe No. 2 was underage in April of 2009," he said following the verdict.
