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Four charged with enslaving Russian women

From CNN Justice Producer Terry Frieden

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In the federal government's first use of a law intended to stop human trafficking, a grand jury Thursday indicted four people, charging them with enslaving Russian women and forcing them to work in an Anchorage, Alaska strip club.

One Russian and three U.S. citizens were charged in a 23-count indictment with luring six Russian women and girls to Alaska to enslave them. A federal grand jury in Alaska issued the indictment, but the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department in Washington was involved in the case.

The defendants, according to the the indictment, recruited the females under false pretenses -- to perform Russian folk dances in a cultural festival. However, when the women arrived in Alaska, they were allegedly forced into servitude.

Prosecutors accused the defendants of coercing the victims to perform in a strip club. Using threats and intimidation, the defendants confiscated the women's passports, visas and plane tickets, the indictment said.

The Justice Department said the indictment marked the first use of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act passed by Congress last October.

The law was designed to cover modern forms of slavery and gives victims access to shelters, counseling and medical care.

The women have been granted temporary legal immigration status and are being housed in a safe location, according to the department.

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