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Vijay Lakireddy, 32, was sentenced to two years in a minimum security prison Monday for his role in a family operation to smuggle young Indian girls into the country for sex and cheap labor. 

U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken decided to “reluctantly” go along with the sentence suggested in an earlier plea bargain for Lakireddy, the son of Lakireddy Bali Reddy, the notorious Berkeley real estate tycoon who is now serving an eight–year sentences for his role in the plot. 

Under terms of the plea bargain, in which Lakireddy pled guilty to one count of immigration fraud, Judge Wilken could have tacked on an additional six months to the recommended sentence. 

Lakireddy’s attorney, George Cotsirilos, expressed satisfaction with Wilken’s ruling. Before the sentence was rendered, Lakireddy said only that he “had faith in God and country.” 

Lakireddy pled guilty in June to falsifying a visa for an Indian man, Venkateswara Vemireddy, who posed as the father of two Indian girls living in the United States.  

In return, prosecutors dropped more serious charges that Lakireddy had raped several of the girls he helped place under the control of his father. The plea agreement came after a revelation that the court–appointed interpreter had encouraged prosecution witnesses to embellish the stories of their abuse. 

At the sentencing, Cotsirilos portrayed Lakireddy as a loving father and a rehabilitated man, who did not play a central role in the family’s plot. 

“He was victimized by other, more involved people and following the dictates of the people in this case,” said Cotsirilos, who also noted that since his arrest in 2000, Lakireddy, who had two previous substance abuse arrests, had successfully undergone a drug abuse program and was now serving as a counselor for those currently in the program. 

Prosecutor Stephen Corrigan also asked Wilken to abide by the plea bargain. 

“The government believes this is a righteous sentence,” he said, adding that he, in part, agreed to the plea bargain to keep the young Indian victims from having to testify at the trial. 

Wilken at first seemed unmoved by the two attorneys’ arguments and intent on opting for the longer 2 1/2-year sentence. She noted that the Indian victims had recently filed a civil suit against the Reddys showing that they would have been willing to testify in court and that Lakireddy’s previous admissions about the sexual motives behind his crime made the case “not a run-of-the-mill violation.” 

However, after repeated urgings from both the prosecution and defense, as well as Lakireddy’s probation officer, Wilken relented and imposed the two year sentence.  

“I will reluctantly go along with the plea agreement based on my trust in Mr. Corrigan, and [the probation officer] in terms of reaching an independent conclusion,” she said. 

Lakireddy will serve his sentence in the residential drug abuse treatment program at Nellis Federal Prison in Nevada. In addition to the sentence, Lakireddy was also fined $40,000 and, once freed, will be kept on supervised release for three years. 

Lakireddy is the third member of his family to plead guilty in connection to the family sex ring following the death of 17-year old Chanti Prattpati, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning Nov. 24, 1999 in a Berkeley apartment owned by the Reddys. The girl’s 15–year–old sister survived the gas poisoning, caused by a blocked heating vent and told federal authorities that she and her sister were flown to the United States and forced to have sex. 

In addition to Lakireddy’s father, his uncle, Jayprakash Lakireddy, and his aunt, Annapuma Lakireddy, pled guilty to immigration fraud but did not receive jail time. 

In January, Lakireddy’s brother, Prasad Lakireddy is scheduled to go to trial on charges ranging from immigration fraud to intent to engage in sex with a juvenile. 

Contact reporter matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net