The women were promised fame and fortune if they travelled to South Florida. After reading enticements on the Internet, one victim was told she would be the face of a new Bacardi drink. Another was told she would get a role in a Paramount film.
But it was all a scam, federal prosecutors say, and instead of riches, the women were drugged, sexually assaulted and filmed. The sex tapes were then sold over the Internet by Miami Vibes Enterprises, a Miramar company that produces pornography, prosecutors say.
On Wednesday, the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami announced a 22-count indictment naming Lavont Flanders, Jr., 40, of Miami Gardens, and Emerson Callum, 45, of Miami, as the men who carried out the scheme. They were charged with conspiracy, human trafficking and distribution of Xanax involving nine victims from May 2006 to February 2011.
The indictment was the culmination of a lengthy investigation that started with Flanders’ arrest in July 2007 by Miramar police. Callum was arrested in September 2007 by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
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