Labor trafficking conspiracy trial ongoing in federal court

By Chris Cotelesse

TheNewsOutlet.Com

YOUNGSTOWN

While a mentally disabled woman lived with an Ashland couple, she went from weighing 143 pounds in August 2010 to weighing 110 pounds in May 2012, according to emergency-room records at Samaritan Regional Health System.

The testimony came during the third day of a trial in federal court, where prosecutors claim Jessica L. Hunt, 31, and Jordie L. Callahan, 26, engaged in a labor-trafficking conspiracy.

They allege the couple imprisoned the 30-year-old woman and her 5-year-old daughter to gain access to government-assistance checks.

The two lived with Hunt and Callahan at their home, 509 W. Main St., from the summer of 2010 to Oct. 24, 2012.

Thursday, prosecutors tried to show the jury that the couple used the woman to get Vicodin from the local emergency room.

Christina Coffy, a clinical coordinator of Samaritan’s emergency room, testified that the alleged victim visited the emergency room nine times during that time period.

The woman’s injuries included finger, knee and hip pain; abrasions; bruises and an open wound that hospital records say was delivered by a BB gun, Coffy testified.

During the first visit in August 2010, the purported victim complained of finger and knee pain, claiming that her dog knocked her down during a walk, Coffy said.

By the May 2012 visit, Coffy said the injuries had escalated to a deep muscle bruise on the purported victim’s hip.

Sometimes the attending physician prescribed Vicodin, Coffy said.

Coffy also testified that often Hunt and Callahan would bring the woman to the emergency room or pick her up and take her to their home, saying the Ashland couple were two “of our frequent visitors.”

Federal prosecutors also introduced records from CVS pharmacies in the Ashland area showing nearly a dozen Vicodin prescriptions for Hunt and Callahan.

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