A 40-year-old woman was convicted Thursday in federal court of taking Vermont girls and young women to New York to work as prostitutes during 2000 and early 2001.
Jurors found Beverly Holland guilty of eight of the 11 original counts of transporting and conspiring to transport and entice adult and juvenile females across state lines to become streetwalkers in the Bronx. The seven-woman, five-man jury found Holland innocent of one charge. Judge William Sessions III dismissed two others during the trial.
Holland faces up to 100 years in prison. No sentencing date has been set.
Holland, who wore a brown velour shirt, running shoes and her hair tightly braided, remained impassive as the verdict was read. She showed little emotion during the three days of sometimes graphic testimony.
She was arrested 48 times in New York City between 1987 and 1994 on prostitution and related charges.
Defense attorney Thomas Zonay said Holland might appeal Tuesday's conviction.
Holland's trial uncovered the sordid details of a Burlington underworld that contradicts Vermont's wholesome image. Young women -- many of whom were 15 to 17 years old at the time of the crimes -- told jurors how they sold their bodies for sex, lured to the life by Holland's friendship and promises of money and clothes.
The investigation into interstate prostitution began in December 2000 with the arrest of Jose Rodriguez in New York City. He was charged with rape and prostitution involving Vermont girls there. Rodriguez, 26, pleaded guilty in May and is serving a 10-year sentence related to the prostitution ring.
Sessions acknowledged the Holland case was difficult. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Darrow agreed, despite being pleased with the verdict.
"It really was upsetting," Darrow said after the trial. "It was upsetting for everyone who got close to and had to deal with the victims."
The Burlington Free Press is not identifying the women because they were victims of sex crimes.
Nearly a dozen girls testified about a world where they were taught not to look pimps in the eye and intercourse was worth about $50. Drugs and alcohol were readily available, one young woman said.
Teenage girls called Holland "Auntie" and some considered her a friend. One young woman said Holland gave her a place to stay. Another girl said Holland helped her kick a heroin habit.
A brunette, who was 16 while working for Holland in the Bronx, said she recruited other girls her age to join her in New York. She said she solicited girls and young women on Church Street in Burlington, enticing them with tales of good money and cool clothes.
After working a few nights on one trip, a group of the girls went shopping. They returned to Burlington with tattoos, a tongue piercing and fancy manicures. They thought they were big shots at the time, Darrow said during the trial, summing up statements made by a witness.
The young women told the court of "sessions" with one of Holland's male associates supposedly to ascertain whether the women would be moneymakers on the street.
The women traveled mostly by bus to New York. They would stay a few days or more in Holland's fourth-floor apartment in a drug- and gang-infested Bronx neighborhood, according to testimony. The girls and young women chose street names, like Destiny and Victoria.
Holland sent the females onto the street armed with condoms, lubricant and a business card touting "Candy's Girls," after Holland's nickname, said a witness who testified last week. FBI agents searching the Bronx apartment found lingerie in different colors and sizes, condoms in different brands and flavors, tubes of lubricant and a diary left behind by one girl who fled before turning a trick, New York-based Special Agent Kristy Kottis testified.
The girls went into the business hesitantly, said one young witness. They were afraid, but fear of Holland or the desire for money led them to work.
"You never know if you really want to do it, until you're out there," a young woman said of prostituting herself.
Contact Cadence Mertz at 660-1847 or cmertz@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
The charges
Beverly Holland was convicted Tuesday on eight counts in U.S. District Court. The charges and the penalties they carry:
-- Conspiracy to transport and entice individuals to travel from Vermont to New York for the purpose of prostitution. Maximum penalty: five years in prison.
-- Knowingly transporting a minor from Vermont to New York for the purposes of prostitution. Maximum penalty: 15 years.
-- Knowingly transporting an adult from Vermont to New York for the purposes of prostitution. Maximum penalty: 10 years.
-- Knowingly transporting a minor from Vermont to New York for the purposes of prostitution. Maximum penalty: 15 years.
-- Knowingly transporting a minor from Vermont to New York for the purposes of prostitution. Maximum penalty: 15 years.
-- Knowingly transporting a minor from Vermont to New York for the purposes of prostitution. Maximum penalty: 15 years.
-- Knowingly transporting two adults from Vermont to New York for the purposes of prostitution. Maximum penalty: 10 years.
-- Knowingly transporting two minors from Vermont to New York for the purposes of prostitution. Maximum penalty: 15 years.
