when i first met julia, she was a very scared young lady. julia reported her boyfriend had beaten and threatened her. he said many times that he would kill me and nothing would stop him. she feared for her life and she feared she could be killed by him and thought she would be killed by him for going to the police. van horn plugged julia s so-called boyfriend s name into the computer. before i started this case, i never even heard of alex campbell. once i put him in the system, i found an extensive criminal history. in 1986, campbell shot his way into a house, then held two women captive in a tense standoff with chicago police. convicted of attempted murder, home invasion and kidnapping, campbell served ten years. after his release, he was arrested, again, for selling young women. and many of those women like julia sported that telltale
mr. campbell had told her that he had police officers working for him. that he had government officials working for him. that if she went to the police, she was going to get arrested. she was going to go to jail then she would be deported after she got done with that. and that was how he had her under his control. but when another young ukrainian named masha mysteriously vanished, julia decided to escape. i didn t have any plans. i didn t know what to do, where to go. nothing. i just had this in my mind, i need to leave now or never. in her panic, julia suddenly recalled a phone number of a friend and waited anxiously for her ride. i was so afraid, any car that would hear passing by, it was just like freaking out, because i thought that was alex. can t you just leave me alone? you better bring a payment in here. if you don t, we will go to war. now get my mother [ bleep ] money.
in august 2009, an alert cook county detective contacts i.c.e. about a young ukrainian national in crisis. i was so afraid that he would kill me, and nothing would stop him. julia says she s just escaped a violent felon who operates a series of chicagoland massage parlors. the man, alex campbell, has her passport and threatens to kill her if she leaves. she feared for her life and feared she could be killed by him and thought she would be killed by him for going to the police. the case breaks wide open after a second woman, masha, escapes and also contacts i.c.e. she, too, says campbell held her hostage. masha was led to believe by mr. campbell that he had someone on the inside, so to speak, that worked at immigration that would
i think that human trafficking is one of the great moral wrongs of our time. it s a scourge, and we re in the middle of a big, fat fight. and we need to win that fight. under the leadership of director john morton, immigration and customs enforcement, or i.c.e., has declared war on human traffickers. investigating more than 100 cases a year and arresting dozens of traffickers. in 2010, i.c.e. got a call about a violent criminal who enslaved a young ukrainian woman in chicago. who was this menacing figure? nicole tinan s tormentor, alex campbell. the case snowballed after an alert cook county detective trained to look for signs of trafficking notified federal investigators. when i first met julia, she was a very scared young lady.
julia recalled she first witnessed campbell s brutality one night after campbell took his staff to dinner. they ended up taking pictures and in one of the pictures, one of the girls wasn t smiling to mr. campbell s liking. and he took them all back to the spa and proceeded to beat this girl and broke two pool sticks over her shins of her legs. a security system in campbell s office kept the girls under constant surveillance. the spa, there were cameras everywhere, so anything you say, anything you, like, do, that looks bad in his eyes, he would just call you to his office and then you will be punished. the girls at the spa were told never to speak to each other or to their customers. when julia broke this rule, she was called to campbell s office. she was stripped of her clothing, tied to a bed and he beat her with sticks, a belt, and his hands.