SEATTLE — A Seattle man appeared in federal court Thursday after being charged with two felonies related to human trafficking. It's a case that came to law enforcement’s attention thanks to a tip called into a national hotline.
On Thursday, there was a detention hearing where it was determined that Issac Shorack, 23, will remain detained pending trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Crisham said Shorack was brought to the FBI's attention after someone reached out to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
"This particular tip was very helpful,” said Crisham.
The tipster said that Shorack was trafficking minors on Aurora Avenue. The FBI began to investigate in mid-November.
"Law enforcement was able to receive some text messages between Mr. Shorack and his victims,” said Crisham. “For several months, he had been trafficking them and having them work on Aurora Avenue, engaging in commercial sex acts with sex buyers.”
An undercover agent, posing as a 17-year-old female, was able to make contact.
“Mr. Shorack almost immediately began recruiting this person who unbeknownst to him was an undercover officer,” Crisham explained.
Crisham says Shorack encouraged the teen to come to Seattle from Denver, and even purchased the plane ticket. But when he arrived at Sea-Tac airport to pick her up, officers took him away instead.
"We do see just a steady stream of cases in this jurisdiction, and we've made it a real priority to focus on those cases,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.
As for this case, Crisham says, “I think it shows what can happen when law enforcement works together with community members to identify potential victims, and to hopefully bring them to safety and to take traffickers on the streets."
If convicted, the charges the defendant is facing, are punishable by a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of ten years.