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Pair indicted in major sex trafficking ring that reached Seacoast

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The defendants are said to have rented residences and hotel rooms as close as Portsmouth for purposes of prostitution. (Courtesy image)

WASHINGTON - An indictment alleging a sophisticated and extensive Northern New England prostitution and sex trafficking ring whose nefarious tentacles reached the Seacoast of New Hampshire was unsealed Thursday in the nation's capital.

The husband and wife team of Sou Chao Li, 37, and Derong Maio, 37, both of Concord, N.H., were charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation and travel for prostitution, two counts of sex trafficking by fraud and coercion, and five counts of interstate transportation for prostitution. Li was also charged with possessing a victim's passport as part of the sex trafficking scheme.

According to the indictment, Li and Maio operated the interstate prostitution and sex trafficking enterprise between July 2016 and at least February of this year, targeting Chinese women who were recruited to Maine, where the defendants "caused them to engage in prostitution, controlled their movements, and isolated them," according to a press release sent Thursday.

The defendants are said to have rented residences and hotel rooms in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont for purposes of prostitution. According to the indictment, the pair also employed others outside of Maine to advertise the women on Backpage.com and to communicate with prostitution customers.

Backpage.com is no longer functioning as it has been seized by several federal agencies.

Li faces up to five years on the passport charge. Both defendants face up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge, between 15 years' imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life on the sex trafficking charges, and up to 10 years on the interstate transportation for prostitution charges. Both also face fines up to $250,000 and mandatory restitution.

The indictment was unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, which is one of six districts designated through a competitive, nationwide selection process as a Phase II Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam). ACTeams focus on developing high-impact human trafficking investigations and prosecutions involving forced labor, international sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion through interagency collaboration among federal prosecutors and federal investigative agencies.

The case is being investigated by the Portland and South Portland, Maine and the Manchester, Portsmouth, and Concord, New Hampshire Police Departments; the Cumberland County (Maine) District Attorney's Office; the FBI; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service; and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General and Wage and Hour Division. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee with assistance from the Civil Rights Division's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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