Tried to find any related posts on DD hope I didn't miss one-
Source for quote -It's not a glitzy costume, but an orange jail jumpsuit a former professional wrestler is wearing while acting as his own attorney.
Hardbody Harrison Norris is defending himself in his federal sex trafficking and prostitution trial.
Prosecutors claim the former WCW wrestler was the pimp, forcing women into prostitution. And inside the courtroom, a clothing rack of evidence which contained lingerie and leather clothing.
One by one, young women took the stand. They told tales of forced sex, and how they were intimidated into engaging in prostitution with male customers at various Metro Atlanta clubs. The testimonies were consistent -- pointing to former WCW wrestler Hardbody Harrison as the mastermind.
The victims said he made all the decisions -- from what they wore to what they saw, and if they could even speak.
Federal prosecutors allege he and two associates would recruit troubled women, many times offering to train them as wrestlers.
His next move? Forcing them into a sex ring, and keeping them against their will at his two Cartersville homes. They also had house chores, and were never left alone.
It didn't go unnoticed by his neighbors.
"It was the element we saw coming in -- it was all women, very scantily clad, anytime you would see him," said former neighbor Kim Caves.
On Thursday, one of the victims, known as Tam-Tam, testified she escaped through a bathroom window, ran two miles and called police.
FBI agents and Bartow County Sheriff's investigators raided Norris' two Cartersville homes in 2005. They removed boxes of evidence, a computer and his SUV -- all part of the sex trafficking case now being heard by a federal judge and jury.
Norris claimed he was simply helping the women get off the streets. Testimony continues on Friday. The trial is expected to last several more days.
http://www.11alive.com/news/article_...storyid=106139
other related articles-
http://www.humantrafficking.org/updates/731
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,344474,00.html
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14663979/detail.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312507,00.html
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/me...body_0402.html
Windsor Genova - AHN News Writer
Washington, D.C. (AHN) -
Ex-professional wrestler Harrison Norris Jr., known as Hardbody Harrison in the World Championship Wrestling days, was sentenced on Tuesday to life imprisonment for forcing women into prostitution and involuntary servitude.
A federal court in Atlanta, Georgia also sentenced Norris, 42, of Cartersville, to lifetime supervised release and to pay $2,400 in special assessment as a result of his conviction in November for running a forced prostitution ring, sexual assaults and abuse, human sex trafficking and forced labor.
From April to August 2005, Norris and a co-conspirator, Aimee Allen, lured his victims to his homes in Cartersville with promises of careers in professional wrestling. Once there, Norris turned the recruited women, many of whom were poor, homeless or addicted to drugs, to work for him as prostitutes and servants.
The victims were forced to have sex with Norris and other men at nightclubs, in apartments, at hotels, in the back of Norris' truck, and in other locations in North Carolina and northern Georgia. Norris kept the earnings of his forced prostitution ring to himself.
Norris kept the victims indebted to him to force them to serve him. He also prevented the victims from escaping and isolated them from the families.
The victims testified against Norris during the trial. Allen, cooperated in the investigation and also testified against Norris to earn a leaner sentence of two years and 10 months imprisonment.
Reply With Quote
1 Member(s) thanked for this post
Bookmarks