ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Three men in St. Charles County pleaded not guilty Friday morning, the day after they were charged in connection with a human trafficking case.
35-year-old Venkatesh Reddy Sattaru, 27-year-old Nikhil V. Penmatsa, and 23-year-old Sravan Penumetcha are facing multiple felonies. They're accused of keeping a 20-year-old man from India captive for months.
The three are being held without bond.
All three co-defendants faced a judge on Friday via video. The judge read the complaint to all three and advised them of their rights. All three were referred to the public defender.
Police said the crimes happened in different homes from Defiance, O'Fallon and Dardenne Prairie.
Police explained the main suspect, Sattaru, brought his cousin to the U.S. last year under a student visa to go to college at Missouri S&T, but he never went.
Instead, investigators said the victim was brutally beaten into forced labor.
Dr. Shima Rostami is the executive director of Gateway Alliance Against Human Trafficking and she said their agency is the only one in the state to focus their expertise on labor trafficking.
"The COVID pandemic has made human trafficking even worse. We have seen an increase of labor abuse," Rostami said. "The promises that they are given in their own home countries are false promises by human traffickers."
She said innocent victims are deceived to believe their work or student visas could give them an opportunity to come to the United States legally and pursue their dreams.
"The individual was promised that they would come over here for a better life, for better education and when they come over here and they don’t see that’s true, all of those dreams that brought them here are broken," Rostami said. "There are so many traffickers who tell lies to different departments, including the Department of Homeland Security, about the intention to bring these people over."
Rostami said these victims are often stripped of everything and isolated, as they come to a foreign country and are removed from family and friends.
Javad Khazaeli, an immigration attorney also added that community cooperation is key.
"Having all the cooperation of all of us, including our immigrants, is important. This could be a consequence of the vilification of immigrants. People could be scared to report if they fear to be deported," he said.
Rostami urged people to be proactive.
"Trust your gut, if you see something and perhaps if it's not right, report it. Say something," Rostami said.
Rostami said there could be a chance for the victim to attain a U or T-visa, which are visas for victims of crimes, to continue cooperating in this case.
Right now, the Eastern District of Missouri Human Trafficking Taskforce is helping St. Charles County with this case by providing two detectives to be with the victim at the hospital, and they said the International Institute is working with the victim to provide shelter and other resources.
The St. Louis County Police Special Investigations Unit leads the Eastern District of Missouri Human Trafficking Taskforce, partnering with the International Institute of St. Louis, the St. Charles County Police Department, FBI, HSI, AUSA, local prosecutors and other community organizations like Crisis Aid International.
The task force conducts proactive and reactive investigations to combat human trafficking in the 49 counties of the eastern district of Missouri.
So far in 2023 the task force has received 61 complaints, most of which were unfounded or are still under investigation.
As for the three suspects, they will face the judge again on Dec. 7 for a bond hearing.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline's number is (888) 373-7888.