It wouldn't be that hard to set up
[QUOTE=OFCharlie;3408015]Anything is possible, but here is my 02. To conduct a sting out of an apartment, he would need to get the permission from the landlord. If I was the landlord, I would never agree to it (bad press, potential property damage, potential harms to other people in the apartment, etc.).
But let's assume he has the permission and did indeed set up the sting, the effort vs reward is just not there. Unlike BP sting where he can post ads and also call girls to go to hotel, he can only sit and wait for OT client to contact first. Also, even if he manages to grab a few guys, hopefully those guys are members here and will post alerts.
If I was the operator of OT and got caught, I would just buy an one way ticket back to Thailand and never to return. There is really no point in helping LE in exchange for a lighter punishment.
Again, never say never, but I don't believe any of his stings have been conducted out of an apartment.[/QUOTE]The first thing you have to remember is you're talking about the cops, and they can get 'leverage' on someone in all sorts of ways. Unpaid property taxes. Being busted for providing the apartment for a 'house of ill repute'. Take your pick. Once they've got the apartment owner under their thumb, their choice is either play along or face the music. What do you think they'll do? As for the operators cooperating, well, if you're facing a choice between spending a decade or so in some place like Joliet and getting off with losing your money before getting deported back to Thailand if you cooperate, do you think they'd be bothered by helping the cops bust some of us? I don't.
You missed one key detail
[QUOTE=Castlerae;3408546]The first thing you have to remember is you're talking about the cops, and they can get 'leverage' on someone in all sorts of ways. Unpaid property taxes. Being busted for providing the apartment for a 'house of ill repute'. Take your pick. Once they've got the apartment owner under their thumb, their choice is either play along or face the music. What do you think they'll do? As for the operators cooperating, well, if you're facing a choice between spending a decade or so in some place like Joliet and getting off with losing your money before getting deported back to Thailand if you cooperate, do you think they'd be bothered by helping the cops bust some of us? I don't.[/QUOTE]I don't disagree about LE getting an apartment owner to help out. But we are not talking just any apartment. We are talking about the same apartments that they currently operate in. Otherwise, the sting won't work. Are you an AX client? Take their Skokie apartment as an example. For those of you who have been there, you will know what I am talking about. That place has at least 300+ units, is owned and managed by a corporation. I just checked their website. The rent for a 2 bedroom is between $2,100 to $2,500. We are talking about a high end place. A place like that is not likely to help LE.
Don't really know all the details
[QUOTE=BottleRocket12;3408636]Well, if the allegations are true, then she deserves it. I mean WTF. 60 k debt to pay? Threatening family members back home? Not letting them leave the apartments unsupervised? That's fucked up and they deserve to be punished for that. The thing about it is that there was absolutely no need for any of that. They were simply greedy. They could have done it clean, flying girls out and splitting the money with them, and they still would have made a decent amount of money, just for answering phones and verifying clients. But that wasn't enough. They had to basically enslave these women. I hope they are made an example of.[/QUOTE]I don't think that anyone would dispute that sex trafficking occurs with women coming to the USA and they are burdened with a debt they have to pay off through sex work. I am sure those unsavory characters do threaten the women with harm to them or their family etc. However, in the case of Jessie, we do not know for sure the extent of her involvement, or association with such activity or shady individuals or organizations. It is easy to take the worst case scenario and apply it to anyone and everyone that is associated with sex work. The worker that 100% on their own decides they are ok with the work because of the earning potential, but suddenly, everyone assumes they are a sex slave with no life, and no freedom outside the location of their work etc. However, with organized crime, it would be very hard to have ties to Thailand without ties to the underworld. The underworld does not allow individuals to freelance on their own. Think about how you would fare if you decided to start selling your product in a location where a vast criminal organization has at least some form of a foothold. I do know that at least a couple of the women working for Jessie, were / are free to come and go as they please, and were more than able to leave and be independent as far as travel, shopping etc. We will have to wait to see how the case plays out.
You're making my case for me
[QUOTE=OFCharlie;3409114]I don't disagree about LE getting an apartment owner to help out. But we are not talking just any apartment. We are talking about the same apartments that they currently operate in. Otherwise, the sting won't work. Are you an AX client? Take their Skokie apartment as an example. For those of you who have been there, you will know what I am talking about. That place has at least 300+ units, is owned and managed by a corporation. I just checked their website. The rent for a 2 bedroom is between $2,100 to $2,500. We are talking about a high end place. A place like that is not likely to help LE.[/QUOTE]Think about it for a second, Charlie: cops present the company with provable intel that a sex trafficking operation is running out of a complex like that. Can you honestly see a corporation wanting the type of heat the cops can bring? Wouldn't they do pretty much anything to keep Tommy and his minions from landing on them with both feet? If it was me, and the cops had that sort of proof, I'd be more than happy to help as long as Uncle LEO was willing to say I cooperated fully.