Former resident convicted of human trafficking

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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:32AM

A massage parlor owner who forced four foreign women into prostitution — and made them get tattooed with his moniker to show he owned them — was convicted by a federal jury on Monday.

Alex Campbell, a former resident of Glenview was found guilty of three counts each of forced labor, harboring illegal alliens for financial gain, and confiscating passports and other immigration documents to force the victims to work.

He was also convicted of one count each of sex-trafficking by force and extortion, a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

The jury deliberated for two to three hours beginning last Thursday after a three-week trial.

Trial testimony showed that Campbell, who formerly operated the Day and Night Spa on Northwest Highway in Mount Prospect, used violence and threats of violence to force three women from the Ukraine and one from Belarus to work for him without pay, and at times with little or no subsistence, the release said.

Campbell recruited and groomed women without legal status into the United States to become part of his “family,” which he claimed was an international organization that would provide them with “support.”

He offered them jobs in his massage parlor, a place to live, assistance with immigration and lured each of them to enter into a romantic relationship with him, the release said. After getting that trust, he forced them to get tattooed with his moniker, which he said made them his property.

The women were forced to work long hours every day and do as Campbell instructed them, and they were beaten and punished if they disobeyed him, the release said.

All four victims testified, as did co-defendnat Danielle John, 25, who pleaded guilty before trial to two counts of harboring illegal aliens for financial gain.

Campbell, also known as “Dave” and “Daddy,” 45, remains in federal custody without bond and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years on the sex trafficking count alone.

He also faces between 5 to 20 years on each of the remaining counts.

A hearing on post-trial motions is set for April 19, but no sentencing date has been set.

—Sun-Times Media