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Somali sex traficking case nears verdict

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Closing arguments are expected to start today in a sex trafficking trial involving several people from Minnesota. The defendants have been accused of participating in a conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children. The U.S. Attorney's Office is trying to prove a wide-ranging conspiracy to use girls under the age of 18 as prostitutes. They say the ring was operated by three Somali gangs that spanned from Minnesota, Ohio and Tennessee. But defense attorneys have argued the exact age of the prosecution's main witness is not known because her birth certificate is faked. The trial is taking place in Nashville, Tennessee. MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Kristin Hall who's covering it for the Associated Press.