ROSEMEAD : 2 Plead Guilty to Forcing Thais Into Prostitution

Two Rosemead residents pleaded guilty Friday to pimping, pandering and false imprisonment of Thai women who were smuggled into the United States, then forced to work as prostitutes.

Tai Pham, 23, a Vietnamese national, was sentenced in Pasadena Superior Court to three years in prison. His girlfriend, Suphonphan (Jackie) Woods, 29, a Thai national, was sentenced to four years in prison.

The pair pleaded guilty rather than face a trial and sentences of up to 30 years in prison if found guilty on all counts, said a detective in the sheriff’s Asian Organized Crime unit.

As part of the deal, Pham and Wood also gave authorities information that may help track an organized crime operation believed to stretch from Asia to the western United States.

During a preliminary hearing in November, four Thai women-- who had been placed in federal witness protection programs--testified that they were smuggled into the United States with false passports, then driven to suburban houses in the San Gabriel Valley, where they were forced to work as prostitutes to pay off a $35,000 travel debt.

Authorities, who characterized the case as “slave trade, 1990s-style,” said the women, who want to go home, will be transported to Thailand by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.