Witness who refused to testify in Nashville Somali sex trafficking case faces jail time

One of the Somalis the government hoped would testify in the Somali sex trafficking case* said he feared for his life if he snitched on his fellow countrymen.

From AP:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Somali man who refused to testify against gang members in a sex trafficking trial in Nashville told a judge that he was assaulted and warned that gang members would get him if he snitched.

Abdullahi Farah was charged with criminal contempt for refusing to testify during a federal trial against nine defendants accused in a sex trafficking ring. Three people were convicted and six were acquitted by a jury in May.

Farah said on the stand Thursday that men wearing masks assaulted him twice and he was told that threats were made against him for cooperating with federal prosecutors in the case, which includes more than 30 defendants and spanned from Minnesota to Ohio and Tennessee.

The indictment alleged that Somali gangs in Minneapolis and Nashville were using young girls and women for prostitution.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Todd Campbell found him guilty of criminal contempt and ordered sentencing to be set for July 3.

[.....]

“I knew what the gangs are capable of,” he testified on Thursday. “I’ve seen it.”

But, did the government (ICE) make him promises and double cross him.  I don’t have time to look further into this, but read the rest of the AP story here.

For new readers, here is one post from earlier this year on the case.  But, if you are really interested, type ‘somali sex trafficking’ into our search function and you will get many posts on the sorry tale.

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