Oakland Park Man Convicted of Sex Trafficking of Minors and Production of Child Pornography

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that a jury found defendant James Mozie, 34, guilty of all charges against him in United States v. James Mozie. Sentencing has been scheduled for February 28, 2012 before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas.

After a five-day trial, the jury found defendant Mozie guilty of all 10 counts in the indictment, including sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Mozie was also convicted of production of child pornography.

At trial, seven different victims, many them runaways at the time they met Mozie, testified that they worked or were recruited to work as prostitutes at Mozie’s residence, which he advertised as “The Boom Boom Room.” According to the trial evidence, The Boom Boom Room, also known as Lot 29, operated for more than a year as a house of prostitution. Mozie advertised the business through the use of mass text messages to his contacts letting people know about the activities at the house each night. When customers arrived, they paid a cover charge to the security guard working the front door. The victims, many of them minors, worked in the house dancing for tips and engaging in sexual activity with male customers for money.

Seven victims, all minors when the offenses occurred, testified that when they first arrived at the residence, Mozie had them complete an application asking for information such as name and stage name, date of birth, and specifying what sexual acts they were willing to perform. All of the minor victims testified that they provided their correct dates of birth to Mozie, who advised them not to tell customers that they were underage. Several of the minor victims testified that before working as a prostitute for Mozie, he required them to have sex with him as part of their “orientation,” which he explained was his way of “testing the merchandise.” They also testified that Mozie would take sexually explicit images of them, which he attached to the text messages advertising the brothel.

Co-defendant Laschell “Shelly” Harris pled guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor and was sentenced on November 16, 2011 to 13 years in prison. Co-defendant Willie David Rice pled guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and the Minor Vice Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry Wallace and Corey Steinberg and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Thomas Franzinger of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

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 http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.