Published Wednesday, April 3, 2019 | 2:04 p.m.
Updated Thursday, April 4, 2019 | 10:49 a.m.
Four women were arrested this week and charged with pimping after being accused of running an illegal escort service in California, Nevada and Utah and operating it out of Santa Ana and Palm Springs.
Authorities with the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force announced Wednesday, April 3, that the women allegedly operated a prostitution ring and were arrested Wednesday and in custody, including one awaiting extradition from Las Vegas.
The four had operated for years, officials said, and eventually brought in tens of thousands of dollars each month.
"No longer are we focusing on the workers who are being exploited whether willingly or under duress," Anaheim police Chief Jorge Cisneros said during a press conference at his agency's headquarters. "We will continue to always go after the leadership of these criminal organizations and bring them to justice."
The three already in Orange County custody were being held in lieu of $1 million bail each: Torri Wilkinson, 37, of Salt Lake City; and Andrea Tizzano, 30, and Aisha Kaluhiokalani, 39, both of Palm Springs.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said the women were charged with four counts each of pimping and pandering. Jodi Hoskins, the woman in custody in Nevada, and Wilkinson, who officials say acted as president and vice president of the escort company, were also charged with conspiracy to commit pimping and pandering.
Anaheim Sgt. Juan Reveles, who runs the multi-agency task force, said the company, Companions Escorts LLC, was set up to appear legitimate but that the approximately 50 women working for it were committing prostitution.
"There were call centers set up in Santa Ana and Palm Springs for the company," Reveles said, adding that Tizzano and Kaluhiokalani managed and answered phones at those centers.
Companions Escorts had various websites advertising pictures of women for entertainment services.
The arrests were the culmination of a year's work in the task force's effort to find underage trafficking victims, Reveles said, although none of those working for Companions Escorts was underage.
Reveles said that no human trafficking charges have risen on this case, because of the lack of force used.
"But I can tell you from investigations, in their emails and the conversations between them ... the amount of pressure and duress put upon them (the workers) ... puts them in that situation," he said.
When the women were finally arrested, tens of thousands of dollars in cash were seized and bank accounts containing $300,000 were frozen, Cisneros said.
Reveles added that it is possible the customers will also be targeted in the investigation.
If convicted, Hoskins and Wilkinson face up to 12 years in state prison, while Tizzano and Kaluhiokalani face up to 10.
