An undercover human trafficking and prostitution operation netted 42 arrests in northeast Oklahoma, according to Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs spokesman Mark Woodward on Monday.
The bureau’s Human Trafficking Unit concluded a four-day operation Friday that focused on organized sex trafficking in Tulsa, Rogers, Ottawa and Delaware counties. Among the locations where prostitutes were arrested were two casinos in Ottawa County.
Woodward says three women were identified as
victims of human trafficking and transported to a shelter.
“None of the (trafficking) victims were on any missing persons list,” Woodward said. “The agency initiated the investigation as the result of
information about individuals, including minors, forced into prostitution.”
The youngest person taken into custody is 15 years old, and investigators are still trying to determine whether she is a runaway, he said.
One search warrant, executed at a Bixby massage parlor, discovered illegal sexual activity and heroin, he said. An additional investigation may bring more charges, Woodward said.
Woodward declined to name the casinos in the operation, saying: “They were not directly involved. They were simply among many locations where arrests were made.”
This was not a casino-prostitution sting, he said.
According to probable cause affidavits, the prostitutes were charging $60 for
half an hour up to $700 for an overnight stay.
“This is not ‘Pretty Woman,’ ” said Ottawa County prosecutor Becky Baird, referring to the 1990 movie. “These women are not trying to better themselves -- they are in a desperate situation doing what they feel they have to in order to survive.”
Thirteen arrests involved engaging in prostitution, 20 involved soliciting prostitution, seven involved pandering, one person was accused of aiding and abetting prostitution and one person involved possession of methamphetamine.
No charges were filed in Delaware County, said District Attorney Eddie Wyant.
Charged in Ottawa County District Court are Ashley Romine, 26, of Ormond Beach, Fla.; Tica Shaner, 35, of Pierce City, Mo.; Misty Dawn Nelson, 35,
of Wyandotte; Darrel Letheal Bailey, 42, of Wyandotte; David Wayne Hanenburg, 29, of Joplin, Mo.; Jamal Clifton Gibson, 22, of Fayetteville, Ark.; Nolan Henry Gibson, 19, of Fayetteville, Ark.; Pablo Guerrero-Campos, 35, of Edmond; and Dominique Leeann Johnson, 21, of Fort Smith; Brandi Michelle Burrows, 37, of Joplin, Mo., and William Henry Lang, 25, of Cairo, Ill.
Burrows and Johnson are charged with use of a computer to commit a crime and engaging in
or soliciting prostitution.
Guerrero-Campos, Hanenburg, Romine, Shaner and Lang are charged with engaging in or soliciting prostitution.
Nolan and Jamel Gibson are charged with pandering and transporting a person for purpose of prostitution.
Bailey is charged with possession of marijuana.
Nelson is charged with engaging in prostitution and possession of marijuana.
Baird said additional charges are expected to be filed this week.
“OBN is committed to dismantling organizations involved in the seedy world of prostitution and ultimately human trafficking,” said Darrell Weaver, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
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