Gyi’s plea is only the latest development in long running case against the trafficking ring, which through coercion and fraud, allegedly pushed hundreds of young women, including minors, into unwanted sex work between 2012 and 2019.
With the footage they recorded through fraud, the two sites brought in some US$17 million in revenue.
Under the orders of fellow defendants, Michael Pratt and Matthew Wolfe, who ran the sites, Gyi knowingly lied to the women he recorded, falsely assuring them that the work wouldn’t be posted online.
“Gyi admitted that over the course of his employment, he became aware that Matthew Wolfe and Michael Pratt were posting many of the sex videos that he filmed on GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys,” the DOJ said.
“Nonetheless, Gyi continued to lie and personally assured the young women he filmed that the videos would not be posted publicly.”
Gyi is the second of the six defendants in the case to plead guilty. A performer who appeared in many of Wolfe and Pratts films, Ruben Andre Garcia, preceded him last month.
“Garcia admitted in his plea agreement that in order to recruit victims to appear in the videos, he and his co-conspirators threatened, deceived and lied to them, promising that the videos would never be posted online, that ‘no one’ would ever find out, and that the videos would never be released in the United States,” the DOJ said in an earlier statement following his plea.
The ring also established a network of false references to sell their story.
According to the DOJ, victims were recruited from around North America and brought to cheap hotels and short term rental units in San Diego, where the films were produced. Prior to the shoots, Garcia would ply the women with marijuana and alcohol to keep them calm.
Once shooting began, the women had little option but to comply with Garcia and the producers demands, and were forced into sexual acts.
In addition to Gyi and Garcia, who both face maximum sentences of life in prison for their crimes, trials continue against three other defendants who were also allegedly involved in the ring including one of the leaders, Matthew Wolfe. However the other leader, Michael Pratt, remains a fugitive according to the FBI.
“Pratt is wanted for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to recruit young adult and minor women to engage in commercial sex acts by force, fraud, and coercion.” the FBI said in a September statement. The agency is offering a $10,000 reward for information which will lead to his arrest.
