Human Trafficking Ring Busted in Philadelphia Area: DA

A Philadelphia man has been arrested for organizing the human trafficking, involuntary servitude and prostitution of an unknown number of victims, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

Bruce "Cash" Steele, 44, was arrested on Aug. 12 after a two-year investigation when authorities executed a search warrant at his home and rescued two women, according to the DA.

The two women were taken to safe locations where their needs will be addressed, thanks to help from the Salvation Army's Stop Trafficking Initiative, the DA said.

Steele was operating his human trafficking ring in a five-county region throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Delaware counties, according to authorities.

The "sophisticated and organized" trafficking ring specifically targeted women who were addicted to drugs and had few resources, the DA said. He conscripted victims into involuntary servitude through violence, the threat of violence, and withholding the drugs to which they were addicted. Police said that Steele knew well that heroin addicts, specifically, have a morbid fear of withdrawal, and that Steele used that fear to his advantage.

Criminal complaints identify seven victims who were forced to work throughout southeastern Pennsylvania. Steele operated out of Philadelphia apartments on Henry Avenue and the 700 block of West Walnut Lane but frequently sent his victims to hotels throughout the region to arrange sex work, police said. He used a fake name — James Marshall — and paid for the rooms with Vanilla Visa Gift Cards, authorities said.

Victim 1
Victim 1, a 27-year-old woman, was arrested at the Towne Place Suites in Horsham in August of 2015, police said. She said she met "Cash" through Victim 2, whom she met in prison. The pair lived together afterwards at the Valley High Apartments on Henry Avenue in Philadelphia along with two other women, identified in the complaints as Victims 6 and 7.

During her time there, Victim 1 became addicted to cocaine, and Steele used that to keep her from leaving, police said. She said that the women were not allowed to leave the house while Steele was away, and that he monitored the apartment via cameras connected to his cell phone.

Steele would send Victim 1 to hotel rooms he had booked in Horsham and Plymouth Meeting five or six nights a week, and was told she had to come back with different amounts of money each night, ranging up to $1,200, police said.

Victim 1 never saw any of the money but was instead “paid” in drugs, the complaint states. She said she never left because he threatened to kill her, she was addicted to the drugs, and she didn’t want to live on the streets.

Victim 2
Victim 2, 37, met Steele in the summer of 2013 in Kensington in Philadelphia, police said. She said Steele would arrange sexual liaisons ranging from $100 to $250 per encounter and that Steele would take all of the money. She added that she was addicted to heroin and that she recruited several other women to participate in his business, police said.

During one incident at the Residence Inn in Horsham, Steele and Victim 2 were robbed by a customer, the complaint shows. When police arrived, Victim was arrested on an outstanding warrant. When she came back to the apartment later, Steele raped her for causing trouble, according to police.

Other victims conscripted in the sex trade by Steele included:

• Victim 3, age 32, addicted to heroin and cocaine, met Victim 2 while in prison and was introduced to Steele in February of 2014
• Victim 4, age 33, met Steele in Kensington in 2013
• Victim 5, age 25, met Steele in Kensington, arrested April 17, 2013 at the Extended Stay Suites in King of Prussia for prostitution; police state she was beaten and raped on April 23 in Tinicum Township at the Motel 6 by Steele
• Victim 6, age 32, met in 2014 in Philadelphia, worked at Extended Stay Hotels in Horsham and Upper Moreland
• Victim 7, age 31

The investigation involved police in East Whiteland, Lower Pottsgrove, Upper Moreland, Horsham, Tinicum, Upper Merion, Philadelphia, the DA offices in Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery and Chester counties, the Pennsylvania State Police and the FBI.

Anyone who may have any information on Steele or prior victims is asked to contact Montgomery County Detectives Bureau at 610-278-3368.

A preliminary hearing has been set for Aug. 25.

Image courtesy Montgomery County DA