You're reading: Trial of seven Ukrainians accused of immigrant smuggling starts

LOS ANGELES, May 8 – A smuggling ring that lured hundreds of Ukrainians to Los Angeles – many of them young women who were forced into prostitution – was a “full service” operation that netted hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal profits, federal prosecutors said. “They smuggled illegal aliens in boats, in the trunks of cars, and on foot,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Aveis said. “And they did it over, and over, and over again.”

During opening statements in federal court, prosecutors provided an inside look into what they described as a conspiracy by seven Ukrainians they allege operated an all-cash smuggling ring that transported would-be immigrants from Ukraine to Los Angeles – with stops in Mexico City and Baja California.

The defendants are: Tetyana Komisaruk, 50; her husband, Velery Komisaruk, 40; her daughters, Natalia Korolova, 31, and Lorina Latysheva, 25; Latysheva’s husband, Oleksandr Latyshev, 29; Serhiy Mezherytsky, 36; and Hryhory Chernov, 50. They face multiple charges, including conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, importing and harboring aliens for the purpose of prostitution and money laundering. The trial before U.S. District Court Judge Robert Takasugi is expected to last about six weeks. A picture emerged from the first day of the trial of an illicit family business, with five relatives and their friends allegedly dividing up tasks including as coaching immigrants on what to tell U.S. Border Patrol agents if caught; giving them clothes, in order to help them blend in; and teaching them how to walk across the border. “Some of them, both men and women, had their hair bleached blonde,” Aveis said. “It took several hours to bleach the hair of one of these Ukrainian women and she was told she would have to pay dlrs 250 for the job.” The prosecutor said the immigrants paid an initial dlrs 2,500 to get to Mexico City, where they were shuttled to hotels. The Ukrainians then were told they had to pay more to enter the United States.

Tetyana Komisaruk was described as the ringleader, responsible for overseeing the “comings and goings” of the smuggled Ukrainians and demanding payment from them. Wiretapped conversations caught her referring to the smuggled women as “whores,” Aveis said. Prosecutors said she shared command of the operation with her husband, Valery Komisaruk, who “helped operate staging points in Mexico,” including a villa near the California border where the smuggled immigrants were housed until they arrived in the United States. Mezherytsky, a Ukrainian emigre who once ran unsuccessfully for City Council in West Hollywood, was described as the third key player. He provided boats and cars for smuggling illegal aliens, Aveis said, and “worked with Mexican guides to shepherd illegal aliens into the United States.” Ellen Barry, the attorney representing Valery Komisaruk, said the smuggled aliens who will serve as witnesses on the government’s behalf were no innocents. “They were willing to deceive whoever they had to deceive to get across the border,” she said. “And when they got caught and found out what the government was willing to offer them, they were willing to do and say whatever they had to.” The investigation was triggered by a video camera that Border Patrol agents found on a dirt trail near the U.S.-Mexico border in 1999. The taped showed what appeared to be the trip of a Russian family “through Hungary, Mexico City and up to Tijuana,” Aveis said. The defendants face up to 10 years in prison for each smuggled alien.