Somali immigrant crime: Nearly two dozen defendants accused of participating in an interstate sex trafficking ring are scheduled to go before a federal jury in what is shaping up to be one of the biggest — and most unusual — trials in Middle Tennessee history

In an era when limited resources and risk aversion have resulted in a dramatic rise in the number of cases that end in plea agreements rather than jury trials, not even one of the 30 defendants in the case has agreed to plead guilty, setting the stage for a massive trial in downtown Nashville that is raising a variety of issues both legal and logistical. Twenty-nine people, mostly Somalis from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, have been charged with running a prostitution ring that sold Somali girls as young as 12 years of age in cities including Nashville. A 30th defendant was indicted in May 2011. In addition to sex trafficking and conspiracy, the defendants also are accused of crimes such as credit card fraud and burglary. Seven defendants — including two who have not yet been apprehended — have been severed from the trial scheduled to begin March 20, 2012 and will be tried later. Even so, longtime prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee said it is shaping up to be the largest number of defendants to go to trial at once in federal court in Nashville, if not U.S., history. “I’ve been here in this office for 21 years now, and there’s never been that number of defendants go to trial simultaneously,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Van Vincent, the lead prosecutor on the case.