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Six Charged in Violent Sex Trafficking Scheme
A brutal sex trafficking operation that preyed on vulnerable women in New Orleans and elsewhere has been dismantled, with six men facing serious charges, including sex trafficking conspiracy and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion.
The indictment alleges that from January 2013 until January 15, 2014, Granville Robinson, aka ‘Bear’ and ‘HB,’ 25, Duane Phillips, aka ‘P-nut,’ 28, Anthony Ellis, aka ‘Anthony Deshun Lloyd,’ ‘Animal,’ and ‘AD,’ 25, Christopher Williams, aka ‘Gutter,’ 29, and LaQuentin Brown, aka ‘Nino,’ 32, all of Memphis, Tennessee, conspired to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, obtain and maintain multiple adult women for prostitution using force, threats of force, fraud and coercion.
The men, who were all charged with conspiring to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, allegedly forced women into commercial sex acts in New Orleans and elsewhere.
Robinson, Phillips, and Williams are each charged with additional counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and with transporting women in interstate commerce for the purpose of prostitution.
Kanubhai Patel, aka ‘Mr. Kenny’ and ‘Pop,’ 73, of Kenner, Louisiana, was indicted for benefitting financially from participating in a sex trafficking venture. If convicted, Patel faces a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.
The case was investigated jointly by agents from the New Orleans Field Offices of the FBI and ICE Homeland Security Investigations as well as the FBI’s Memphis Field Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel John Cotton Richmond and Trial Attorney Christine M. Siscaretti of the Civil Right Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, and Assistant United States Attorney Julia K. Evans of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Sex Crimes|Human Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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