Home Miami Press Releases 2010 Broward Men Sentenced for Sex Trafficking Conspiracy
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Broward Men Sentenced for Sex Trafficking Conspiracy

U.S. Attorney’s Office November 19, 2010
  • Southern District of Florida (305) 961-9001

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and Al Lamberti, Sheriff, Broward Sheriff’s Office, announced that defendants Johnny Saintil, 28, Michael Defrand, 26, and Stanley Wilson, 26, of Broward, were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch for their role in a conspiracy to sex traffic minors and sex traffic by force, threats of force, and coercion, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1594(c). Saintil was sentenced to 121 months’ imprisonment; Defrand was sentenced to 188 months’ imprisonment; and Wilson was sentenced to 102 months’ imprisonment.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from September 2009 through March 16, 2010, Saintil, Defrand, and Wilson were members of an organization that prostituted adult and minor females out of national and international hotel chains in Broward County. The organization advertised its prostitution services on the Internet. The defendants used the organization to do Internet advertising, facilitate transportation, and avoid law enforcement detection. In this way, the defendants shared resources, including hotel rooms, computers, condoms, and the prostitutes working for the organization.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the FBI’s Minor Vice Task Force. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Strider Dickson.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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