The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is among agencies investigating charges alleging four Collin County residents had been trafficking female immigrants.

The Princeton Police Department filed the charges in March after finding 15 women in a house on Ginsburg Lane.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the women were reported by a pest control inspector called to control a bed bug infestation at the house.

The affidavit quoted the exterminator as saying the only furniture in the house was one air mattress and several folding tables. He said each room had three to five women and several suitcases and most of the women were sleeping in bedrolls on the floor.

Detectives from the Princeton Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division obtained a search warrant  “for any electronic communication devices capable of storing digital data or connecting to the internet.”

Police Chief James Waters said officers seized laptops, cell phones, printers and fraudulent documents.

The women, in their 20s, told police the renter of the house was assisting them in creating resumes, learning JavaScript and finding jobs, the affidavit said.

He would collect wages from employers and keep 20% as his fee until the “debt was repaid,” the affidavit said.

Princeton Police Detective Crawford said at least 100 people were probably involved, with more than half of them being victims.

Waters said the investigation led to locations in Melissa and McKinney, as well as to adult males he said were engaged in forced labor. 

Crawford said some of the workers have contacted family members were some are working with victims’ assistance programs.

Police filed charges alleging second-degree felony of trafficking of persons under Section 20A.02 of the Texas Penal Code against 31-year-old Santhosh Reddy Katkoori of Melissa, his wife, 31-year-old Dwaraka Gunda, Chandan Reddy Dasireddy, 24, of Melissa and 37-year-old Anil Reddy Male of Prosper.

Katkoori’s attorney, Jeremy Rosenthal of McKinney, said, “These workers were in the IT field and nothing about this was forced labor.”

Rosenthal said Princeton police had taken a “shoot-first, aim-later” approach to the case.

“As a simple example, they claim to have seized computers, studied the details of the operation, then made arrests.  But they arrested Mr. Katkoori on the same day they seized computers — and only a single day after the original complaint.”

Rosenthal added, “We’re not privy to details of the investigation but I’m sure we’ll find even more inconsistencies because Santhosh is innocent of Human Trafficking. We won’t litigate this in public and we only ask people to withhold judgment.”

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