Inside ICE: Volume 2, Issue 25

L.A. Woman Pleads Guilty To Trafficking Her Niece For Prostitution

LOS ANGELES—A West Los Angeles woman pleaded guilty December 6 to a federal human trafficking charge for bringing her niece into the United States and forcing her to work as a prostitute.

Alena Okhotina, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking into servitude, an offense that carries a potential penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The charges are the result of a joint investigation by ICE, the FBI, the Office of Inspector General for the United States Department of Labor and the Los Angeles Police Department.

Okhotina paid for a ticket for her 18-year-old niece to fly from Russia to Los Angeles. When the teenager arrived in Los Angeles, she lived with Okhotina at her apartment. Soon after, Okhotina took possession of her niece’s passport and told her that she would have to work as a prostitute. Okhotina coerced her niece to work as a prostitute by telling her that she would be arrested if she went to the police because she was here in the United States illegally.

“Sex trafficking is one of the vilest forms of exploitation and the fact that someone would inflict this kind of suffering on their own flesh and blood is unconscionable,” said Los Angeles ICE special agent-in-charge Loraine Brown. “ICE is working closely with the other members of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area Task Force on Human Trafficking to ensure that those who engage in this reprehensible practice are brought to justice and pay the price.”

Back to Top

Landmark Marriage Fraud Case Nets 44 In California

ICE DRO’s Torres Joins Secretary Chertoff At SBI Press Conference

Jordanian Man Pleads Guilty To Middle East Smuggling Conspiracy

ICE Arrests Salvadoran Fugitive, Convicted Sex Offender

ICE Money Laundering Case Nabs Nine in Salt Lake City

Former Boy Scout Exec Gets 8 Years For Child Porn

ICE New Orleans Arrests 14 Illegal Workers

L.A. Woman Pleads Guilty To Trafficking Her Niece For Prostitution

ICE Most Wanted

Returning A Mexican Fugitive

Receive the latest ICE newsletter twice a month right to your inbox. Simply enter your information below.