October 17, 2018
OUR MISSION
We serve justice and public safety through our commitment to ethical prosecution, crime prevention, and through innovative and reasoned client representation.
 Mike Freeman (left) and Lolita Ulloa (right) with Blake students who were honored for their work to fight sex trafficking.
Four young women from The Blake School who decided to tackle the exploitation of sex-trafficking and the I-494 Corridor Group of law enforcement agencies who worked overtime to stop sex-trafficking during the Super Bowl were honored on October 10 at the 18th Annual Community Leadership Awards.
The keynote speaker at the ceremony, and one of the individuals honored, was Gloria Perez, President and CEO of Jeremiah Program, which lifts women and children out of poverty. Other award recipients included Patricia Harmon, Retired CEO CornerHouse and Josh Peterson, Senior Public Health Specialist, Minneapolis Health Department.
“These leaders are lions,” Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in his introduction. “They don’t listen to the doubters, the name-callers, the reticent. They energize others to fall in with them and march us all to a better tomorrow. It is a privilege to be here to honor them.”
The Complex Crime Team from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office was also recognized for their work to prosecute crimes of financial exploitation against seniors and to raise awareness of elder abuse. Read more.
Check out the photo album.
Watch the awards ceremony video.
A Crystal man has been charged with labor trafficking for using men on his construction crews who were undocumented and threatening to turn them into federal officials unless they followed his orders, including working long hours without overtime pay.
Ricardo Batres, 46, was also charged with insurance fraud for falsely claiming he had workers compensation insurance and theft by swindle, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced at a news conference on Sept. 26 along with Minnesota Department of Commerce Commissioner Jessica Looman, Ruth Schultz, organizing director of the Center for Workers United in Struggle (CTUL) and Robin Phillips, Executive Director of The Advocates for Human Rights.
This is one of the first times a labor trafficking charge has been brought in Minnesota. It came about because of information provided to the commerce department’s Fraud Bureau by labor unions, CTUL and The Advocates for Human Rights. Read more.
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Earlier this month, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman joined more than 75 law enforcement officers and prosecutors from Hennepin and Ramsey Counties to discuss new ways to keep the public safe without adding to the prison population.
Ronal Serpas was brought in to discuss the work his organization, Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime & Incarceration, has been doing over the past year around the country. Serpas is the former police chief in New Orleans and his emphasis now is providing police officers with alternatives to arresting people.
Freeman and Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek moderated a session with Hennepin County deputies, police officers and prosecutors, to discuss some alternatives. The group zeroed in on finding ways to keep the mentally ill out of the jails for minor or nuisance crimes.
Freeman mentioned the drop off center at 1800 Chicago Ave. S, where police can take a person they have picked up for a nuisance crime that obviously is rooted in a mental health issue, rather than booking them into the jail. There, they can be seen by mental health professionals.. Read more.
CONTACT INFO
Michael O. Freeman
Hennepin County Attorney
300 S. Sixth St., Minneapolis, MN 55487
612-348-5550 - citizeninfo@hennepin.us
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