Ashland Woman Sentenced to 32 Years in Prison for Labor Trafficking and Related Crimes Involving Disabled Woman
ASHLAND, Ohio – An Ashland, Ohio, woman was sentenced to 32 years in prison for holding a woman with cognitive disabilities and her child against their will and forcing the woman to perform manual labor for them,
Said U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach, and Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland office Stephen D. Anthony.
Jessica L. Hunt, 32, was sentenced to 32 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson. Jordie L. Callahan, 28, was sentenced to 30 years in prison by Judge Pearson earlier this week.
Hunt and Callahan convicted in March following a three-week trial on one count each of conspiracy to violate laws; forced labor and acquiring a controlled substance by deception. “Labor trafficking cases are significant, and in this case, the conduct was reprehensible,” Dettelbach said. “People need to understand that exploiting vulnerable people for their own greed is going to lead them to a jail cell. We remain humbled by the strength and dignity of the victims in this case.”
The conspiracy between Callahan, Hunt, McGuire and Brown took place between August 2010 and October 2012. The object of the conspiracy included holding S.E. in a condition of forced labor and involuntary servitude and intentionally causing painful injuries to S.E. so they could use the narcotic pain medications she was prescribed to satisfy their personal drug cravings. Callahan and Hunt recruited S.E. and B.E. to live with them in their two-bedroom apartment in Ashland, knowing that S.E. suffered a traumatic brain injury that left her with a cognitive disability and that S.E. and B.E. received monthly public assistance payments.
The defendants used a combination of violence, threats, sexual assaults, humiliation, deprivation, and monitoring to establish and continue a pattern of domination and control over their victims. Their tactics included beating S.E., threatening to beat S.E. and B.E., taunting and threatening the victims with pit bulls and snakes, causing the victims to sleep in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, restricting B.E. and S.E.’s access to the bathroom, preventing them from eating regular and suitable meals, and forcing S.E. to eat dog food and crawl on the floor while wearing a dog collar, according to the court documents and trial testimony.
According to court documents and trial testimony: Callahan pointed a firearm at S.E.’s head and threatened to kill her if she did not perform the labor and services he and other conspirators commanded. Callahan also forced S.E. on multiple occasions to engage in sex acts with him and threatened that he and Hunt would kill S.E. if she told anyone about the forced sexual acts.
Other defendants, Daniel J. Brown, 35, and Dezerah L. McGuire (formerly Silsby), 33, also of Ashland, both previously pleaded guilty to related crimes and are serving sentences in federal prison. Brown was sentenced to five years in prison and McGuire was sentenced to nearly four years in prison.
Related Federal Cases
Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: Human Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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