Darnell Fulton, 38, Pleads Guilty to Human Trafficking Charges in Louisiana
A 38-year-old man from Pineville, Louisiana, has pleaded guilty to human trafficking charges, including transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and conspiracy to compel labor by three minors.
According to the plea agreement, between June 2016 and May 2019, Darnell Fulton used violence, sexual abuse, withholding of food, degradation, and intimidation to coerce multiple minors to work for his brownie baking business and provide him with the business profits.
The victims were required to travel to as many as 20-30 locations a day, including plazas, car dealerships, law firms, restaurants, and parking lots, in order to sell brownies. They worked late into the night, either selling or baking the brownies, and sold them during the day instead of going to school.
Fulton’s sentencing hearing has been scheduled for April 11, 2023. He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum penalty of up to life imprisonment, as well as a $250,000 fine for transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and a maximum penalty of 20 years and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to commit forced labor.
As part of his plea agreement, Darnell Fulton agreed to a sentence of 35 years in prison and to pay more than $700,000 in restitution to the victims.
The FBI New Orleans Field Office, Alexandria investigated this case, with assistance from the Alexandria Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker for the Western District of Louisiana and Trial Attorney Maryam Zhuravitsky of the Justice Department’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit are prosecuting the case.
Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org.
Related Federal Cases
- Bob G. Dean Jr., Neglect of Nursing Home Residents, Louisiana, 2023 · Oklahoma
- Austin, Cocaine and Gun Trafficking, Marrero LA, 2023 · Georgia
- Marcus Deshawn Wright Sentenced to Life Terms for Sex Trafficking o… · Texas
- Laquentin Brown, Sex Trafficking Conspiracy, New Orleans LA, 2023 · Tennessee
- Ricardo Garcia, Cocaine Trafficking, LA, 2023 · Alabama
Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Category: Sex Crimes|Human Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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