Department of Justice Seal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CR

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1999

(202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

TDD (202) 514-1888


THREE PLEAD GUILTY TO FORCING WOMEN INTO SLAVERY

AND PROSTITUTION IN NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Three individuals who were indicted last November on charges that they lured women from China, held them in slavery and forced them into prostitution pled guilty today in federal district court in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, the Justice Department announced.

Soon Oh Kwon, president of Kwon Enterprises, Inc., which does business in Saipan, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate rights, specifically the right to be free from involuntary servitude. Kwon's wife, Ying Yu Meng pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate federal laws that prohibit involuntary servitude, extortion, and transportation for illegal sexual activity. Kwon's son, Mo Young Kwon, who is an officer of Kwon Enterprises, also entered a guilty plea to one count of transportation for illegal sexual activity.

"Sadly, we have seen too many cases of modern day slavery," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "Today's guilty pleas, should put those who exploit workers on notice that the Justice Department will be relentless in bringing them to justice."

The charges arose out of allegations that the three lured women from China to the CNMI and then held them in slavery and forced them to work as prostitutes in K's Hideaway Karaoke, a bar owned by Kwon Enterprises. "This kind of abuse of guest workers is intolerable" said Frederick A. Black, U.S. Attorney for the District of the Northern Mariana Islands. "No matter where someone is from, once they come to the United States, they should be free from slavery." As part of his guilty plea filed with the court, Soon Oh Kwon admitted that, in 1996 and 1997, Kwon Enterprises, in collaboration with Kwon's mother-in-law, recruited and brought women from China to Saipan to work at the karaoke club, where they were forced to have sex with customers. The women were not allowed to stop working for Kwon Enterprises until they had paid debts owed to Kwon and his family for bringing them to Saipan. In order to discourage the women from leaving without permission, the women were subjected to mental and physical coercion, which included threats to their lives, and their families' reputations in China. Soon Oh Kwon also admitted to brandishing a pistol at some of the women. Kwon and his wife also admitted that they threatened the women in order to prevent them from making complaints to the CNMI Department of Labor and Immigration.

Kwon's wife admitted that she had general oversight responsibility for the women who were employed by Kwon Enterprises and made sure that they did not leave without permission by intimidating and instilling fear in them. Kwon's son admitted that he made arrangements with customers of the karaoke club to have sex with the women, collected the money, and directed the women to leave with the customers in order to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Sentencing is set before Judge Alex R. Munson on January 11, 2000. Soon Oh Kwon is facing a maximum prison term of ten years; Ying Yu Meng, a maximum prison term of five years; and Mo Young Kwon, a maximum prison term of ten years.

The prosecution was the result of a cooperative investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of the Clinton Administration's CNMI Initiative on Labor, Immigration and Law Enforcement, a broad based multi-agency initiative designed to increase resources and oversight in the CNMI, a U.S. Commonwealth located in Micronesia.

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