A California man has been sentenced to life in prison for forcing a victim to engage in commercial sex across the country, the Department of Justice announced yesterday.
Michael Deon Fulcher, 54, of Gardena, was sentenced to life in prison and a lifetime of supervised release after a jury found Fulcher guilty in January.
The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that Fulcher used sexual assault, threats of violence, isolation, control, psychological manipulation, and emotional abuse to compel the victim to engage in commercial sex between April and June 2020.
Fulcher lured the physically injured victim into his car in Las Vegas by making false promises to help her, but then brought her to his home where he sexually assaulted her.
Shortly afterwards, Fulcher brought the victim to California, where he acted in concert with a co-defendant, Jonzie Hamilton, to compel the victim to engage in commercial sex acts over the course of several weeks.
Fulcher required the victim to follow his strict rules, threatened the victim with physical harm, confiscated her money and Social Security debit card, and even had an unlicensed dentist pull out her teeth.
This significant sentence imposed by the court reflects the severity of the defendant’s abuse and exploitation of the victim, said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
“Human trafficking is not just a plot for Hollywood movies,” said U.S. Attorney Todd Gee for the Southern District of Mississippi. “It happens all over the country in a variety of ways, and even here in Mississippi as the tragic facts of this case show.”
The FBI Jackson Field Office, Gulfport Resident Agency investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Kate Alexander and Francisco Zornosa of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report it to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
Fulcher’s co-defendant, Jonzie Hamilton, was previously sentenced on April 9 to 29 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to interstate transportation for prostitution.
The strength and resiliency of the victim in this case to escape the defendant and then report what happened will ensure that he never harms anyone else again, said U.S. Attorney Todd Gee.
Related Federal Cases
- Fulcher Gets Life for Cross-Country Sex Trafficking · Mississippi
- Robert Ryan Powell Gets 16+ Years for Sex Trafficking · New Mexico
- Luther ‘Pumpkin’ Ray Gets 40 Years for Sex Trafficking Teen · California
- Derek Lamont Terry Gets 20 Years for Child Sex Trafficking · Texas
- Racial Tensions Boil Over in Sonora: Chinese Merchants Flee Amidst Anti-Chinese Campaign · Mississippi
Key Facts
- State: Mississippi
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Human Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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