Tales of teenage stripper slaves land Cossack dancer in jail in U.S.
Published 27 October, 2007, 05:46
In 2001 a Russian dance choreographer took eight dancing girls to perform in a folk festival in Alaska. They ended up dancing in a strip club and were detained by the immigration service. The choreographer was later sentenced to 30 months in prison. Now free, he still denies his guilt.
Viktor Virchenko says he'll never forget his trip to Alaska. The Cossack dance choreographer ended up in jail, narrowly avoiding a life sentence.
In January, 2001, Virchenko took a group of eight Russian female dancers to take part in a folk festival in Anchorage. Instead they were told to dance in a strip club called the Crazy Horse. Viktor says he never made the girls dance naked and that he'd been misled by his American associates.
Virchenko was arrested by the FBI and charged with 27 crimes, including working in the slave trade, mob involvement and visa violations. The charges were largely based on a statement signed by all eight girls.
Virchenko spent eight months in jail before he was cleared of most charges. As the prosecution failed to prove his guilt, Victor ended up with a 30-month sentence for immigration law violations.
The court received 2,700 letters from Russian politicians, artists and fans. As for the girls, most of them stayed in the U.S. and got new jobs and refugee status.
Viktor Virchenko has returned to his home village and is currently working as a choreographer. He often watches videos of his tours and shows his awards to guests and he's planning to resume his trips abroad.
But looking back on the years spent in an Alaskan prison, he says he'll never go back to the U.S.
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