Soon after U.S. Magistrate Judge Franklin Noel ordered that Andrew Kayachith , one of 29 suspects named Monday in an alleged sex trafficking ring, should be released pending trial, officials in Nashville moved to ensure he remain locked up.

Kayachith is one of a handful of suspects in the case Noel ordered released this week — citing family ties, school, a job and no serious criminal history. But a federal judge in Nashville has so far ordered all but one to remain in jail pending their appearance in Tennessee.

Trouble was, Kayachith was technically free. In fact, he was getting fitted for an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet when U.S. District Judge William Haynes issued an order stopping his release from custody.

The legal wrangling Wednesday provided an interesting glimpse into a case in which most of the suspects are from Minnesota, but the people prosecuting and presiding over it are in Nashville.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office here told the Nashville folks that Haynes’ order was not sufficient to hold Kayachith. So a federal magistrate judge in Nashville issued an order to hold him. That posed another problem, pointed out Andrew Mohring of the Office of the Federal Defender. One magistrate judge cannot overrule another. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Steinkamp agreed, and asked Noel to delay a ruling until clarity came from Nashville.

Instead, Noel affirmed his order that Kayachith be released.

That doesn’t mean Kayachith or his parents should breathe easy. Prosecutors and defense attorneys said they expect another court order will come, sending him back to jail.

‘They just filed the motion’

The indictment unsealed Monday accuses the suspects of running an interstate human trafficking ring that sold Somali girls — one as young as 12, another only 13 — into prostitution. Officials say the ring, made up of members of three Somali street gangs, committed credit card fraud and burglary as well. Their alleged crimes, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, crossed state lines. Investigators say girls were driven from the Twin Cities to Nashville and Columbus, Ohio, to perform sex acts for money.

For defense attorneys arguing that not all the defendants deserve to stay in jail for months before trial, the week so far has been an exercise in futility.

After persuading Noel that their client was not a risk to flee or a danger to the public, Noel was overruled by Haynes. And there was no explanation, said Manny Atwal of the Office of the Federal Defender. Such motions usually carry some rationale for the decision.

“They just filed the motion, and the judge just signed it,” Atwal said.

As of Wednesday evening, only Kayachith and Bibi Ahmed Said, who is several months pregnant, have avoided staying locked up.

Defense attorney Jean Brandl saw her client, Abdullahi Sade Afyare, released only to be led back to jail. He, too, was being fitted with an electronic bracelet when deputy U.S. marshals took him back into custody. This, although he is a college student and his family promised to ensure he comes to court, Brandl said.

‘Violation of due process’

“I’m furious and this just feels like an absolute violation of due process,” she said. “His family is utterly devastated.”

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Van Vincent in Nashville said the law presumes that suspects in this type of crime are kept locked up. In addition, federal law allows prosecutors to appeal the decisions of a magistrate judge.

“There is no due process violation when the United States takes action as provided for in the law,” he said.

Afyare’s sister, Hamdi, and several other family members expressed frustration and doubt about many of the allegations in the case — starting with the reported young age of some of the alleged victims. Many Somali refugees have Jan. 1 listed as their birth date because such records were not kept in Somalia.

They also question the assertion, Hamdi Afyare said, that the victims did anything against their will. She further denied that her brother or the other suspects are members of a gang. “There is no gang,” she said.

James Walsh • 612-673-7428

Star Tribune

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