A 48-year-old Houston man has been sentenced to 480 months in federal prison for orchestrating a multi-state sex trafficking scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Larry ‘Lavish’ Lewis, 48, was convicted by a federal jury in Houston on October 10, 2023, after a six-day trial. Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane handed down the sentence, which will be followed by 10 years of supervised release.
The victims in the case, four women, were coerced into engaging in commercial sex in the Bissonnet street area of Houston and various cities in Texas and Louisiana. Lewis used physical force and threats to control them, confiscating their identification cards and tightly controlling their access to food, lodging, and basic necessities.
At trial, the victims detailed how Lewis recruited them on false promises of good money and a good life, only to subject them to a life of exploitation and abuse. One victim testified that Lewis kicked her in the head into a window and whipped her with an electrical cord after attempting to escape. Another victim described how Lewis broke her ribs and left bruises all over her body after receiving multiple beatings.
The jury rejected defense claims that the women sought out Lewis because of his marketing expertise in the commercial sex industry. Instead, they found that Lewis used his position of power to exploit and coerce the women into engaging in prostitution.
Lewis’s sentence is a testament to the growing efforts to combat human trafficking in the Southern District of Texas. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Houston, in coordination with local and state law enforcement agencies, has formed the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA) to target human traffickers and provide services to their victims.
The HTRA, established in 2004, is a model for human trafficking investigations and prosecutions nationwide. Its success is a result of the collaboration between federal, state, and local agencies, as well as non-governmental service organizations.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sebastian A. Edwards and Christine J. Lu prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and the FBI as part of the HTRA.
Lewis will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Related Federal Cases
- Sex Trafficker ‘Lavish’ Lewis Sentenced to 40 Years for Multi-State Scheme · Texas
- Cunigan Admits to Brutal Sex Trafficking Scheme · Illinois
- Fulcher Gets Life for Cross-Country Sex Trafficking · Mississippi
- Texas Man Jailed 22 Years for Sex Trafficking Ring · Texas
- Texas Man Sentenced to 22 Years for Sex Trafficking Conspiracy · Texas
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Human Trafficking|Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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