BREMERTON — The alleged leaders of a human trafficking ring busted in Bremerton on Nov. 13 have been charged by the Pierce County prosecutor with several human-trafficking related charges.
Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist charged Marteze Ravoine Clair, 27, and Erica Jade Cromartie, 23, with human trafficking in the first degree, leading organized crime, promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor, and promoting prostitution in the second degree.
Facing charges in Kitsap County are Erin Hart, Matthew Gary, Mitchell Fligor, and Raynaldo Medellin.
According to Lindquist, Clair is a well-known East Side Piru gang member.
During a seven-month period, beginning in November 2013, Clair and Cromartie allegedly posted 226 prostitution ads on Backpage.com, promoting the services of multiple women and girls. Clair and Cromartie allegedly pocketed the money that the victims earned during each “date.” The girls were allegedly given drugs and threatened with violence, according to Lindquist.
Cromartie allegedly assisted Clair by recruiting girls, training them and collecting money.
“Street gangs are moving into pimping to supplement their drug sales,” Lindquist said in an announcement of the charges. “We are vigorously prosecuting these cases — particularly those involving underage girls. Eliminating human trafficking is one of the goals of our gang unit and our office.”
In the Nov. 13 bust, 11 suspected adult victims — the youngest of whom is reportedly 18 — were contacted, booked and released. According to Bremerton Police Chief Steve Strachan, booking adult victims is a best practice for helping them to exit prostitution, “so they are in the system but offered services.”
Four children belonging to a suspect were turned over to Child Protective Services. A 3-month-old was brought along by a trafficker; two 7-year-olds and a 14-year-old were left at a nearby location by their mother, a victim.
One of the suspects was also jailed for possession of methamphetamine.
More than 40 law enforcement officers and agents from 19 agencies — including police from Bremerton, Bainbridge, Port Orchard, and Poulsbo — participated in the Nov. 13 bust. The FBI coordinated the operation, which Strachan said was part of an ongoing regional effort to combat human trafficking. There have been at least three human-trafficking busts, with approximately 17 arrests, in the last 12 months in Kitsap County.
Comments from some suspects indicated that recent efforts targeting trafficking in the Seattle area and Tacoma led the suspects to believe that Kitsap County and the Bremerton area were “wide open” and posed less risk of arrest, Strachan reported.
“The operation is intended to send the strong message that we are working together to ensure that trafficking is not just moved around, it is stopped,” Strachan said in a press release about the arrests. Strachan said more operations will be conducted in the future, and human trafficking will continue to be a focus of law enforcement in this area.
Agencies participating in the Nov. 13 operation, listed in alphabetical order:
— Bainbridge Island Police Department
— Bremerton Police Department
— Federal Bureau of Investigation
— Federal Protective Service
— Homeland Security Investigations
— Kitsap County Child Protective Services
— Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office
— Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office
— Lakewood Police Department
— Missing and Exploited Children’s Task Force
— Port of Seattle Police Department
— Port Orchard Police Department
— Poulsbo Police Department
— Seattle Police Department
— South Sound Child Exploitation Task Force
— South Sound Gang Task Force
— Tacoma Police Department
— Washington Department of Corrections
— Washington State Patrol
