BOSTON – In a third superseding indictment unsealed today, Jaquan Casanova, a/k/a ‘Cass,’ ‘Joffe,’ ‘Joffy,’ and ‘Joffy Joe,’ 24, of Dorchester, was charged for the first time with tampering with a witness by attempting to kill him and for making false statements to a federal agent.
Casanova, along with Raymond Jeffreys, a/k/a ‘Skame Dollarz,’ ‘Skame,’ ‘Skamen,’ ‘Define Dollarz,’ and ‘Frenchy,’ 27, of Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and Portland, Maine, and Corey Norris, a/k/a ‘Case,’ and ‘Jacorey Johnson,’ 25, of Dorchester, were charged in the third superseding indictment. Jeffreys was charged alongside Casanova with tampering with a witness by attempting to kill him and with conspiring with each other to do so.
The charges of tampering with a witness by attempting to kill that witness are related to a sex trafficking organization. The initial indictment in the case, returned in March 2013, charged Norris, Darian Thomson, a/k/a ‘Bo,’ ‘Dee Bo,’ and a woman named Vanessa Grandoit with sex trafficking of a minor from Massachusetts to Rhode Island in December 2012.
According to the allegations in the third superseding indictment, in April 2013, Thomson was released from state custody on unrelated state charges in New Jersey and returned to Boston, where he was shot in the head by Casanova at the direction of Jeffreys. The third superseding indictment alleges that Jeffreys believed that Thomson had cooperated with law enforcement in New Jersey and directed the shooting of Thomson with the intent to kill him in order to prevent Thomson from providing information to federal law enforcement regarding his and Norris’ sex trafficking activities.
The third superseding indictment also re-alleges that, at various times from 2006 through 2014, Jeffreys, Norris, and others trafficked victims for prostitution by force, fraud or coercion and, in the cases of the minor girls, knowing or in reckless disregard that they were under the age of 18. The charge of tampering with a witness by attempting to kill that witness is related to this sex trafficking organization.
The third superseding indictment contains specific allegations regarding the sex trafficking operation, such as that Jeffreys targeted vulnerable girls and women, including those who were poor and/or homeless, drug addicts, and those who were already working as prostitutes or who had done so in the past. Many of the women either had children when they met Jeffreys and/or became pregnant with his child. Jeffreys used a variety of techniques to persuade and manipulate the women, including making promises about providing for them and their children, and then only doing so if the women performed acts of prostitution.
Jeffreys used a variety of techniques to control the girls and women through force, fraud, coercion and a combination of those means, including by threatening the women that he would kill them. The third superseding indictment also alleges that Jeffreys worked with other men as ‘pimp partners’ or ‘p partners’ to share resources, such as car rides, hotel rooms, and payment for online advertisements. Jeffreys taught other men, including Norris and Thomson how to engage in sex trafficking, and these men became ‘pimp partners’ with Jeffreys.
Casanova is charged with one count of tampering with a witness by attempting to kill, and one count of making false statements to a federal agent. Jeffreys and Norris are charged with tampering with a witness by attempting to kill, and conspiring with each other to do so. They are also charged with multiple sex trafficking counts, including the trafficking and transportation of nine victims, six of whom were under the age of 18, for the purposes of prostitution in multiple states.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV.
Related Federal Cases
- Jaquan Casanova, Witness Tampering, Massachusetts 2016 · Maine
- Letitia James, Suppressed Trans Health Info, New York NY, 2023 · District of Columbia
- Letitia James, Civil RICO Lawsuit, New York 2023 · Illinois
- Letitia James, Revocation of Temporary Protected Status, New York, 2023 · Illinois
- Letitia James, AmeriCorps Funding Cancellation, New York 2023 · Illinois
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Human Trafficking|Violent Crime|Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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