By Jim Clark

A Joint Task Force of the F.B.I. Human Trafficking Unit and members of the Somerville Police Department set up an undercover sting operation last Thursday focusing on sexual conduct for a fee and human trafficking activities in the city.

Members of the HT Unit (Human Trafficking), identified an internet website (Backpage.com) that was displaying numerous advertisements offering services for a fee from an unidentified location in the Greater Boston area.

An undercover member of the unit (UC) made telephone contact via the advertisement posted on Backpage.com. The UC was reportedly informed by a woman, later identified as Shiquena Joseph, of Boston, that she would arrive at the sting operation’s location within 30-45 minutes.

Several members of the SPD unit were present in the parking lot of sting site, along with several members of the Task Force Unit, to monitor Joseph’s arrival and entrance into the hotel.

Joseph was observed arriving and being dropped off at the front door. She had been instructed to come up to a certain room in the hotel, where the UC was stationed, awaiting her arrival.

The entire interaction was recorded on a secretive audio wire the UC was wearing and captured voice recordings, while being listened to by another member of the Task Force.

Once inside the room, Joseph initially refused to engage in a sex act. She reportedly stated that she was there to provide the UC with a “message.”

After some banter back and forth between the UC and Joseph, she subsequently agreed to perform a sex act for the sum of $150, according to reports.

Once Joseph agreed to the sex act and the agreed upon fee, the UC gave the signal and several members of the Unit entered the room and announced their presence with our badges prominently displayed.

Joseph reportedly gave her consent for the Task Force to perform a search of her iPhone while on scene. Joseph was subsequently handcuffed and transported to the SPD Headquarters, where she was booked on a charge of sexual conduct for a fee.

Several more attempts were made in an effort to solicit further sexual services via the Back-page.com website. After some time, the UC reportedly received several text pictures on his phone from a woman later identified as Ashley Stella, of Reno, NV.

The UC received several “selfies” of Stella and was texted that she would arrive at the location in 10 minutes. At the time of the texting, the agreed upon fee of $160 for a half an hour of sexual services was reportedly established.

According to police, Stella arrived at the site of the operation by a car owned by a rental company. The vehicle drove up to the front entrance of the hotel and the defendant exited from the passenger side front seat.

Upon arrival at the room, she knocked and the UC invited her inside. Once inside the room, Stella instructed the UC to place the money on the table, which he did. The UC then asked Stella if she had a condom. She stated that she did not have a condom and as long as the UC is clean, then that is OK with her. At this time, Stella started to unbutton her pants. The UC then provided the predetermined signal to the rest of the undercover members, at which time they entered the room.

While being searched, Stella was observed to have five individual condom packages in her pocketbook. She was handcuffed and transported to SPD headquarters where she was booked charge of sexual conduct for a fee. Upon further investigation, it was determined that Stella has a previous arrest/conviction record for soliciting and engaging in prostitution in of Las Vegas, NV.

After the arrest of Stella, the vehicle that brought her to the location was stopped by police.

The operator of the vehicle was identified as Rakee Ritnergill, of Las Vegas, NV. According to reports, there was a lack of cooperation on the part of Ritnergill when questioned about his most recent activities in the area. There were statements made by Stella that she was familiar with Ritnergill, and that they both arrived via airline the previous day.

Upon further investigation, it was determined that the two were sharing a hotel in the Boston area. Ritnergill was handcuffed and transported to the SPD headquarters where he was booked on a charge of sexual conduct for a fee.