St. Louis Man Sentenced to 17 Years for Sex Trafficking

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Timothy A. Garrison, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a St. Louis, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today to his role in a sex trafficking conspiracy.

Calvin Anthony Miller, also known as “Cerius Blacc,” 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison without parole.  In addition to the conspiracy, Miller was sentenced to two counts of transporting an individual across state lines for prostitution.

Miller admitted that he engaged in the conspiracy from approximately March 2016, to Oct. 15, 2016, which victimized two women whom he forced to engage in prostitution.

This case is the result of Operation Cross Country X, an international FBI investigation of sex trafficking in partnership with local law enforcement agencies.

According to court documents, a federal undercover agent assisted the Independence, Mo., Police Department, posing as a customer attempting to hire a prostitute for sex. On Oct. 14, 2016, the undercover agent located an online listing that included provocative and partially nude photos along with a description and some possible acts that she was willing to do. The agent contacted her and she agreed to meet him at a hotel.

This witness provided law enforcement officers with information on Miller, who she said was a violent pimp, and his cousin, co-defendant Henry Dailey, 37, also of St. Louis. Dailey pleaded guilty on June 26, 2017, to transporting an individual across state lines for prostitution.

The witness led law enforcement to a hotel in Independence where they encountered Victim 1 and Victim 2. Victim 2 told law enforcement officers that Miller was violent and abusive. She said she met Miller in March 2016 and had never been allowed to go back home. Victim 2, who said Miller broke her hip during one violent encounter, told officers, “If I tell you anything he will kill me” and started crying. She stated that she did not believe the police could provide enough security to protect her from “these guys.”

Victim 1 told the detective that she wanted away from the group and just wanted to go home.

While at the hotel, agents determined that Miller had rented two rooms on the third floor. Agents made contact with Miller on the third floor. Miller was noncompliant with law enforcement requests, was directed to the ground, and cuffed.

Each of the victims told law enforcement officers that Miller required them to work in a prostitution ring based in St. Louis, threatening them with violence and death if they tried to leave, and took all of their money. They also said that Miller forced them to use drugs to keep them addicted and dependent on them.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore. It was investigated by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Independence, Mo., Police Department. v