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Berkeley Landlord Tried to Thwart Cops, Prosecutors Say
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, March 16, 2000
©2000 San Francisco Chronicle

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/03/16/MN26010.DTL


BERKELEY -- A Berkeley landlord accused of smuggling Indian girls tried to put two sisters overcome by carbon monoxide fumes and their distraught roommate into a van before police arrived, prosecutors said in documents released yesterday.

Lakireddy Bali Reddy, 62, then spent the two months before his arrest trying to cover up the identities of the girls -- one of whom died -- and their illegal immigration status, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kennedy said.

Kennedy said he would prove that Reddy and his family ``actively concealed the true identities of the deceased girl and her sister, lied to the Berkeley police and instructed witnesses to lie to the police about the girls.''

Reddy, Berkeley's wealthiest landlord, has been indicted on federal charges that he brought young Indian girls to Berkeley for sex and cheap labor. Reddy and his son, Vijay Lakireddy, 30, also face charges of submitting false visa applications that allowed them to import the girls. Both have pleaded not guilty and are free on bail.

Ted Cassman, Reddy's attorney, was out of the country yesterday and unavailable for comment.

George Cotsirilos, Lakireddy's attorney, said, ``The government is absolutely wrong, and the truth will come out at the hearing.''

In court papers filed Tuesday to rebut the defense attorneys' motion to dismiss the case, Kennedy said a man matching Reddy's description was among several men who were seen carrying the unconscious body of 17-year-old Chanti Prattipati into a Reddy Realty van.

Prattipati died accidentally of carbon monoxide poisoning on November 24 after she and her 15-year- old sister were overcome by fumes from a faulty wall heater in an apartment owned by Reddy. An autopsy report showed that Prattipati was pregnant. Her sister survived.

The girls were discovered by a roommate who was seen ``crying and resisting'' as several men forced her into the van, Kennedy said. A passing motorist saw the roommate struggling and was told by a man fitting Reddy's description that it was none of her business, the documents said.

Although Reddy and his associates may have called 911, as defense attorneys have alleged, the landlord's actions show that he was trying to ``spirit'' the girls out of the apartment, Kennedy said.

Reddy and his son have agreed to provide voice samples to help identify the man who called 911 from the girls' apartment. The caller initially said people had fainted at the Berkeley BART station, according to Kennedy, but when the dispatcher traced the call to the apartment, the man said, ``Yeah'' and ``Please be fast.''


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