Feds accuse 2 of sex trafficking in VT, NY

A federal grand jury in Vermont has indicted two New York men on charges of sex trafficking connected to a vast drug conspiracy.

The indictment states that Sharif Cargo and Gary Delima, both 26 of Brooklyn, compelled two women into prostitution for a year beginning in September 2012, and used "force, threats of force, fraud and coercion to cause them to engage in commercial sex acts," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Burlington said Tuesday evening.

Prosecutors say the suspects forced the women to travel from Vermont to New York to engage in prostitution.

Delima also is accused of transporting a minor from New York to Vermont to engage in prostitution in January.

The suspects "are accused of recruiting, enticing, and maintaining" the female victims, prosecutors say.

The 12-count indictment also accuses the suspects of conspiring to distribute heroin and cocaine, court records show. Not all the counts pertain to Cargo and Delima, and several other defendants are named in connection with drug charges but not sex trafficking.

The full case, filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington, is an extensive proceeding involving 13 defendants, all of whom are accused of drug-related offenses. Some also were accused of counts relating to firearms and money laundering, according to the case's lengthy docket sheet.

Tuesday's sex-trafficking counts were contained in the third indictment handed up in the case.

Delima's attorney, Brooks McArthur, said he had just received the latest indictment Tuesday evening.

"He denies the charges," McArthur said of his client. "We're going to plead not guilty."

McArthur said he was unaware of an arraignment date.

A call after business hours Tuesday to Cargo's attorney, Thomas J. Sherrer, was not immediately returned.

The case began in July 2013 when police raided a room at a South Burlington motel and found Cargo, Delima, two women and "evidence of prostitution and narcotics activity," the U.S. Attorney's Office stated. An investigation showed one of the women had been advertised online as an escort available in and around South Burlington, prosecutors said.

Then, this February, another raid on a South Burlington motel led police to two more females, one of whom was a minor.

"The females identified Gary Delima as the man who transported them from New York to Vermont for the purposes of having the females engage in prostitution," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

VT anti-trafficking campaign launched

The indictment comes two weeks after federal prosecutors and other law enforcement announced a high-profile effort in Burlington to fight sex trafficking and human trafficking.

"We can only effectively combat sex trafficking through a combination of educating the public about the problem, providing treatment to victims and potential victims and vigorously prosecuting human traffickers," U.S. Attorney for Vermont Eric Miller said in a statement Tuesday "Through today’s indictment, we are using all of our federal law enforcement tools to bring alleged traffickers to justice."

Contact Adam Silverman at 802-660-1854 or asilverman@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wej12.