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Lithuanian Pleads Guilty To Trafficking Ukrainian Women In U.S.


9 September 2005 -- A Lithuanian citizen has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the United States in connection with bringing Ukrainian women to America and forcing them to work as topless dancers in the city of Detroit.

U.S. federal prosecutors said Michail Aronov, 33, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commmit forced labor, immigration violations, and money laundering, and has agreed to cooperate with an ongoing investigation of the case.

He faces up to 30 years in prison and a $750,000 fine when he is sentenced.

Aronov is reported to have been arrested in February after two Ukrainian women escaped from him and his business partner Aleksandr Maksimenko and told U.S. authorities that the men had enslaved them.

U.S. authorities say at least four women from Ukraine were forced to work 12-hour days as dancers at a topless bar in Detroit, Michigan.

(AP)

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