Suspect in sex trafficking held without bail
BY DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Saturday, May 05, 2012
5/05/12 at 6:11 AM
A woman arrested last week in a Tulsa federal courthouse hallway will remain in custody while a sex-trafficking case against her is pending, U.S. Magistrate Lane Wilson decided Friday.
Gloria N. "Diana" Giammalva, 51, would pose a danger to the community and would also be a flight risk if allowed out on bond, Wilson found.
Wilson also found that probable cause had been established by the prosecution for the court to believe that Giammalva benefited financially from participation in an interstate venture that the defendant knew - or acted in reckless disregard of the fact - was using force, threats of force, fraud and coercion to prompt commercial sex acts.
Also, Wilson found that probable cause had been established by prosecutors to show Giammalva knowingly persuaded, induced, enticed or coerced interstate travel that resulted in prostitution.
Both allegations were made in a complaint against Giammalva filed on April 26, the same day she was arrested at the Page Belcher Federal Building, 333 W. Fourth St.
She had shown up as a spectator at the detention hearing of her husband, Juan Rosales Garza.
Garza, 40, is one of six people who have been indicted in Tulsa and charged with engaging in a conspiracy that purportedly involved the recruitment, enticement and transportation of women for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.
Besides Oklahoma, the conspiracy involved activity in Tennessee, Kansas, Missouri and Florida, according to the most recent indictment in the case.
As the April 26 testimony of Garrett Hendrickson, a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, began to implicate her, Giammalva stepped into the hallway, where she was arrested and handcuffed as she burst into tears.
At a Tuesday hearing, Hendrickson testified that Giammalva and Garza acted as leaders of the plot.
Giammalva's attorney, Stephen Knorr, argued there is no evidence to show that she ever intimidated anyone.
However, Wilson found Friday that Hendrickson's testimony established probable cause for the court to believe that Giammalva "was engaged in a wide-ranging (and lengthy) illegal commercial sex enterprise that was run, to a significant degree, by her."
Original Print Headline: Woman held on charge of sex trafficking
David Harper 918-581-8359
david.harper@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Gloria N. "Diana" Giammalva: U.S. Magistrate Lane Wilson ordered Giammalva held without bail, saying the prosecution had established probable cause that she had benefited financially from an interstate operation that coerced people into prostitution. Wilson said there was probable cause to believe it was run by her
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