Human Trafficking: U.S. Attorney's Office says it's closer than you think
Survivor Lindsey Rayl shares story of human trafficking
'There's this notion that human trafficking only occurs in big metropolises,' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl M. Campbell. 'But a lot of the small rural venues are where trafficking can take place, especially if there's an interstate corridor nearby with lots of hotels. That's where traffickers often set up.'
Campbell says the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana focuses on prosecution, prevention, and protecting victims. Their primary tool for prosecuting traffickers is U.S. Code Section 1591, though other laws — including the Mann Act and child pornography statutes — are used as well.
But securing a conviction is only part of the process. Campbell says gaining the trust of a victim is often the most critical and difficult step.
Tips for parents to protect children from human trafficking
'These survivors are going through trauma,' he explained. 'They're in recovery, and then we ask them to testify in court. That's why we need more than just law enforcement. We need people victims feel safe talking to.'
Support often comes from advocacy groups like Purchase, the YWCA, and local organizations that provide shelter, medical care, counseling, and job placement. A victim witness specialist helps coordinate these services and build a bridge between survivors and the justice system.
'We will prosecute vigorously and investigate aggressively,' Campbell said. 'But we also want to make sure victims get what they need to move forward.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Miami Herald
Maxwell and her Miami defense attorney in eye of Epstein storm. Trump, too
Miami defense attorney David O. Markus represents Jeffrey Epstein's infamous former girlfriend, a convicted British socialite who may hold the keys not only to her fate but that of President Donald Trump. Markus' client, Ghislaine Maxwell, found guilty of recruiting underage girls for the billionaire financier, was questioned on Thursday and Friday by the U.S. deputy attorney general about her insider knowledge of the Epstein sex-abuse case — a resurgent scandal threatening Trump's presidency as his MAGA base clamors for answers. What Maxwell might know about a long-speculated 'client list' of famous people possibly kept by Epstein, who authorities say killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019 before his federal sex trafficking trial, could change the course of Trump's presidency. Trump and Epstein, both New Yorkers with mansions in Palm Beach, had socialized for years before falling out. In a dramatic development on Thursday, Markus and Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee, met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche at the U.S. courthouse in Florida's capital. Markus called the meeting 'very productive.' 'He took a full day and asked a lot of questions and Ms. Maxwell answered every single question,' Markus told reporters after the meeting at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the courthouse. 'She never invoked a privilege. She never declined to answer. She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.' The trio — Maxwell, Markus and Blanche — met again on Friday in the same location, in what many legal observers have called a highly unusual gathering. 'How many defendants turned witnesses does a deputy AG personally interview?' said a South Florida defense lawyer, who did not want to be identified. 'Get your popcorn.' Harvard law grad Markus, 52, a Miami native who went to Harvard Law School, heads his own firm and hosts a popular blog and podcast. Known as a top-tier defense attorney whose career started in the Federal Public Defender's Office in Miami, Markus has been thrust into the national spotlight along with his client, Maxwell. In late 2021, she was convicted in Manhattan federal court of sex trafficking minor girls for Epstein at his homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands — over the course of a decade. Curiously, the closed-door meetings this week with the deputy attorney general come at a critical stage in the appeal of her conviction, which will be considered as a possible case by the U.S. Supreme Court in the fall. The Justice Department has opposed her challenge every step of the way, in the federal district and appellate courts in New York. Markus declined to comment about the meetings between his client and Blanche in Tallahassee. In their negotiations, Maxwell and Markus are walking a fine line, but so are Blanche and Trump. Before Blanche was appointed by Trump as second in command behind Attorney General Pam Bondi, he represented him in a criminal fraud trial in the Manhattan state court in 2024. Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records, stemming from a scheme to conceal a $130,000 payment to an adult film star Stormy Daniels that was made to keep her quiet just before the 2016 presidential election about their alleged affair. After Trump won the 2024 election, the judge gave him no prison time, but Trump became the first U.S. president with a felony conviction. After the trial, Markus hosted Blanche on his Apple podcast, 'For the Defense,' which focused on his experience representing Trump. On a parallel track, Trump had hired Blanche to be his lead attorney in the 2023 classified documents case brought against him by the federal special counsel Jack Smith. Markus was among other lawyers approached by Trump's defense team, but he turned them down. Blanche and Markus' 'cozy' relationship, as some have described it, may have led the deputy attorney general to reach out to Markus this month to discuss how Maxwell might be a witness in the rekindled Epstein investigation. In early July, the Justice Department and FBI issued a memo shutting down the investigation, saying there was nothing more to report about Epstein's suicide or the existence of a client list — only to reopen it amid a bombardment of criticism by Trump's right-wing base. Adding fuel to the fire: Bondi had told Fox News in February that an Epstein client list was 'sitting' on her desk, but then changed her story after the FBI memo was released. Trump's MAGA supporters grew more enraged. They repeated all kinds of conspiracy theories on social media and in podcasts, suggesting without proof that Epstein didn't kill himself and that Democratic President Bill Clinton and other major public figures may have sexually abused the underage girls that Epstein recruited to his residences. They continued to fuel speculation about his client list and who might be on it, despite Trump's relationship with Epstein before he was convicted of soliciting minor girls in a state plea deal in West Palm Beach in 2008. Since then, the House Oversight Committee has voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for its files on Epstein, and issued a subpoena to interview Maxwell on Aug. 11. Reacting to backlash, Trump said he would continue to push for the release of relevant information in the case. This week, his Justice Department unsuccessfully asked a South Florida federal judge to release grand jury records in the original Epstein probe dating back almost two decades. Political storm escalates Most Americans believe that the U.S. government is concealing information, including about who else may have been involved in Epstein's abuse of the young girls at his residences, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. As the political storm escalated, Blanche announced earlier this week that he intended to meet with Maxwell, who has maintained her innocence and is appealing her conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court. Blanche said he had reached out to Maxwell's lawyer to see if she might have 'information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims.' On Tuesday, Markus issued a short statement, saying: 'I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully. We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.' Maxwell testimony Miami lawyer Joseph DeMaria, a former federal organized crime prosecutor, said the conversation between Maxwell, Markus and Blanche is very different from the typical effort by a prosecutor to gain the cooperation of a convicted defendant to testify against her co-conspirators. As a rule, prosecutors are very wary about making a deal with a convicted felon because the testimony may not be credible to present to a jury. 'In this case, Mr. Blanche is trying to develop testimony to be presented to Congress in a political forum,' DeMaria told the Herald. 'If Ms. Maxwell presents congressional testimony that is favorable to the president, whether or not that testimony can be corroborated, that testimony can be used to end the constant inquiries about his [Trump's] relationship with Epstein. 'But Ms. Maxwell won't offer to clear the president with her congressional testimony for free,' he added. 'Mr. Blanche will have to find a way to offer Ms. Maxwell a get-out-of-jail card in order to secure positive testimony for the president.' However, Maxwell's testimony may present other potential pitfalls for herself or Trump, because of her well-documented lack of credibility. After Maxwell's sex-trafficking conviction, prosecutors branded her crimes as 'monstrous' and cast strong doubt about her honesty. 'In short, the defendant has lied repeatedly about her crimes, exhibited an utter failure to accept responsibility, and demonstrated repeated disrespect for the law and the Court,' prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York wrote in June 2022 before her sentencing. Two of Markus' former colleagues in the Miami Federal Public Defender's Office said Maxwell is in good hands, noting that he 'lives and breathes the law.' 'Nobody wins everything, but he wins often,' Miami attorney Henry Bell said. 'He thinks like a criminal defense lawyer and fights to the end for his client,' Miami lawyer Orlando do Campo said. Both seasoned defense attorneys said Maxwell's potential testimony could have repercussions not only for herself and Trump but for any number of prominent figures in Epstein's social circles. 'The reason the Justice Department doesn't want to disclose the Epstein files is that it could harm the reputation of innocent people who associated with him,' Bell said. 'If Jeffrey Epstein's client list, or what I consider his 'association list,' were revealed, this could not only be a left or right thing, it might affect a lot of people across the political spectrum,' do Campo said. 'There are a lot of weird bedfellows here.' History of Epstein-Maxwell cases In June 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting teenage girls at his Palm Beach mansion and served about one year in jail — after Miami U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta chose not to present a 53-page indictment to the grand jury alleging the more serious federal charges of sex trafficking dozens of minor girls. If convicted, those charges would have carried potential punishment ranging from a mandatory 10 years in prison up to a life sentence. Epstein's victims called it a 'sweetheart plea deal' that allowed him to go to work or do whatever he wanted for six days out of every week. The deal also shut down an FBI probe into whether there were more victims and other powerful people who took part in Epstein's sex crimes. Acosta's 'non-prosecution agreement,' signed in September 2007, was initially kept secret from Epstein's victims. The agreement also immunized several of his co-conspirators from federal prosecution. The Herald's investigation of the secretive plea deal, part of its 'Perversion of Justice' series by reporter Julie K. Brown, led to Acosta resigning as U.S. Secretary of Labor in 2019 during the first Trump administration. In July of that year, federal prosecutors in New York filed an indictment charging Epstein, 66, with conspiracy and sex-trafficking charges — similar to the case that was not pursued by federal prosecutors in South Florida. But the following month, Epstein hanged himself in a federal lock-up in New York, according to authorities. Upon the death of the notorious defendant, prosecutors turned their attention to his former girlfriend, Maxwell. In 2020, she was indicted on conspiracy and sex-trafficking charges and convicted the following year for her role in the abuse of underage girls. On Dec. 29, 2021, she was found guilty of five of the six counts against her, including sex trafficking of a minor, transporting a minor for illegal sexual activity, and related conspiracy charges. In June 2022, Maxwell, 63, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Markus had worked as her appellate attorney during the trial. After her conviction, he filed Maxwell's appeal. His argument: Epstein's non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in South Florida should have protected Maxwell from facing charges in New York. But both the federal district and appellate courts in New York found that the deal, which promised to immunize Epstein's co-conspirators, only applied to South Florida. In the fall, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to consider her appeal.
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
Hunting show host from Georgia banned for life from hunting in Kansas
A hunting-show host from Georgia has received a lifetime hunting ban in Kansas for illegally killing deer in that state. Matt Jennings, 35, host of 'The Game,' pleaded guilty to two counts of 'illegal taking of a white-tailed deer in interstate commerce,' according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Jennings, from Bowden, Ga., also admitted to using footage from the hunts on his show. Jennings was sentenced this week to five years probation and banned from hunting or fishing in Kansas for the rest of his life as a result of the case, which originated in 2022. ALSO: Wolf found dead in Rocky Mountain National Park likely killed by cougar On Nov. 11, 2022, Jennings killed an antlered deer near Florence, Kansas, without a valid tag. He then drove the deer to Oklahoma, where he registered the kill using an Oklahoma tag. On Nov. 19, 2022, Jennings killed another antlered deer near Wakeeney, Kansas. He had a valid permit for the area, but violated state law by exceeding the bag-limit of one antlered deer per season. Jennings was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and a $10,000 fine. He also was ordered to forfeit the antlers from the deer he poached. Additionally, during his probation, Jennings cannot guide, hunt, trap, or fish in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota. The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, with assistance from agencies in other states.
NBC News
3 days ago
- NBC News
Live updates: DOJ to continue interview with Epstein partner Ghislaine Maxwell; Trump heads to Scotland
The Justice Department is seeking the release of grand jury transcripts from the Jeffrey Epstein case. President Donald Trump visits the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP Updated July 25, 2025, 7:20 AM EDT It was late afternoon on the last Friday in June, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Gordon was in his office in Tampa, Florida, interviewing a victim for an upcoming trial via Zoom. Alongside a special agent, Gordon was preparing the victim to be a witness in a Justice Department case against a lawyer who the Justice Department alleged had been scamming clients. There was a knock at the door, Gordon later told NBC News, and he didn't answer; at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida, there was a culture of not just popping in when the door is closed. But the door popped open, and there stood the office manager, ashen-faced. The office manager is in charge of security, and Gordon thought for a moment that something might have happened to his family. Gordon muted the Zoom call, and the office manager handed him a piece of paper. It was a one-page letter signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. He'd been terminated from federal service. 'No explanation. No advance warning. No description of what the cause was,' Gordon said in an interview. 'Now, I knew why. I knew it had to be my Jan. 6 work.' Gordon had been senior trial counsel in the Capitol Siege Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, which prosecuted alleged rioters involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. His title reflected some of the high-profile cases he'd taken on during the Jan. 6 investigation and the role he played in helping other federal prosecutors. At the time of his firing, Gordon had long been working on other cases back home in Florida. He had recently been assigned to co-lead a case against two people accused of stealing more than $100 million from a medical trust for people with disabilities, as well as injured workers and retirees. Just two days before he was fired, he'd received an 'outstanding' rating on his performance review. Now, along with two other recently fired Justice Department employees, Gordon is pushing back, suing the Trump administration late Thursday over their dismissals. The suit argues that the normal procedures federal employees are expected to go through to address their grievances — the Merit Systems Protection Board — are fundamentally broken because of the Trump administration's actions. Read the full story here. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., today announced an immigration bill that would broaden pathways to obtain legal status and citizenship for longtime residents of the U.S, including Dreamers, highly skilled workers and asylum seekers. The bill, called the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929, would make immigrants who have been living in the United States continuously for at least seven years eligible for permanent legal status. This would update an existing statute that was last amended in 1986, which set the cut off date for eligibility at 1972. It would also provide a pathway for Dreamers, asylum-seekers and high-skilled workers with H-1B Visas to obtain green cards. Padilla first introduced the bill in 2022 but it never got passed the Judiciary committee. A version was introduced in the House by Rep. Zoe Lofgren and similarly languished in committee. Both versions will be reintroduced on Monday, Padilla said. 'We believe this is the first step,' he said, adding that changing public opinion is the key ingredient this time. According to a recent Gallup poll, 79% of Americans say immigration is a good thing compared to 64% in 2024. Support for allowing undocumented immigrants to become U.S. citizens has increased to 78% compared to 70% last year. 'What we're seeing in practice is not what people signed up for,' he said of Trump's immigration directives. 'The overreach, how extreme and cruel the administration has become about immigration enforcement, has shifted public opinion about Donald Trump and his policies.' Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said last night that he plans to continue his conversation with Epstein's longtime accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell today. The two spoke for several hours yesterday as the administration seeks to probe Maxwell for additional information about Epstein's case. Attorney General Pam Bondi chose Blanche to speak with Maxwell in an attempt to 'pursue justice' after a decision by the Justice Department to no longer release information from the federal investigation into Epstein roiled Trump's base. 'President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,' Bondi said this week on X.
