http://www.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/reddy29a.htm
Published Tuesday, August 29, 2000, in the San Jose Mercury News
Smuggling charges debated
Case focuses on Berkeley landlord
BY LISA FERNANDEZ
Mercury News

Federal prosecutors have filed a motion defending their charges that a
prominent Berkeley landlord smuggled young girls from India for "immoral
purposes," contending the girls were younger than 18.

The motion, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Oakland, is a response to
the defense's earlier request to dismiss two of nine counts against
Lakireddy Bali Reddy, calling the ``immoral purposes'' charges ``archaic''
and ``unconstitutionally vague.'' The charges have been historically used in
cases involving prostitution and polygamy.

However, the U.S. Attorney's Office argued in its motion that the term can
be extended to having sex with a minor, which carries a ``near universal
condemnation.'' In the court papers, prosecutors stated that even if Reddy
comes from another country, he has been a U.S. resident for more than 30
years and should have known having sex with a minor is against the law.

Reddy and his son, Vijay Kumar Lakireddy, 30, are charged with illegally
bringing Indian nationals into the United States for sex and cheap labor,
and submitting fraudulent high-tech visas between March 1998 and Jan. 14,
2000. An amended indictment was expected sometime in the fall but now has an
undetermined filing date.

While a hearing on the ``immoral purposes'' argument is scheduled for
mid-September, the dueling motions highlight what is certain to become a
central issue in the case: The age of the girls imported from India to work
in 62-year-old Reddy's restaurants, businesses and rental properties.

The U.S. Attorney's Office contends the girls were younger than 18 --
authorities have previously said the two girls involved were 17 and 15. But
Reddy's attorney, Ted Cassman, stated in his motion that he will argue the
girls were not minors. He was not available for comment on Monday.

The case against Reddy came to light in November when one of two southern
Indian sisters died accidentally in a Reddy-owned apartment from carbon
monoxide poisoning. An anonymous caller told Berkeley police of the alleged
sex and labor scheme.


Contact Lisa Fernandez at lfernandez@sjmercury.com
<mailto:lfernandez@sjmercury.com> or (510) 790-7313.