Jury hears case alleging 4 cops enabled prostitution ring

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A woman who says she was lured from Costa Rica into a Virginia-based sex-trafficking ring says that a former police chief and three other officers were clients of the enterprise and allowed it to operate. A federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, began hearing testimony Tuesday in the civil trial against the officers, including Edwin Roessler, the former chief in Fairfax County. The plaintiff worked under the supervision of Hazel Sanchez, who was later convicted of running a commercial sex operation.  The woman says Sanchez forced her into prostitution and that the officers enabled her trafficking. All four officers deny any complicity in trafficking, though two officers acknowledge hiring a prostitute. Roessler denies any connection to prostitution.