Paul Carter, 46, of Milwaukee, pleaded guilty late yesterday in the Eastern District of Wisconsin to eight counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion and one count of conspiracy to commit forced labor and sex trafficking. The charges stem from a brutal, years-long operation that exploited vulnerable women and girls across Northern Wisconsin and Milwaukee, leaving lasting trauma in its wake.
From 2001 to 2013, Carter used lies of high earnings and a better life to lure victims into dancing at exotic clubs on Indian reservations. Once under his control, he turned promises into prison. Victims were subjected to physical violence, sexual assault, emotional torment, and threats against their families. Isolation and fear became his tools to force them into commercial sex acts that lined his pockets.
The plea documents reveal horrors few can fathom. When one woman dared speak to another man, Carter heated a wire hanger and branded a “P” on her buttock—marking her as his property. Another time, he shoved a gun barrel into a victim’s mouth and threatened to “blow her head off” when she considered escape. He searched a victim’s genitals after suspecting she’d hidden money, then forced her into sex. In another incident, he threw a woman to the ground, stepped on her head—breaking her tooth—and made her choose between drowning or jumping from a window.
“The repulsive crime of human trafficking offends the most basic standards of human decency and dignity,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division will vigorously and relentlessly prosecute those who prey upon, abuse and exploit vulnerable members of our society for their own financial benefit. And while no punishment can undo the egregious harms inflicted, we will work tirelessly to seek justice on behalf of victims and survivors of human trafficking.”
“Paul Carter preyed on women and children who found themselves in desperate situations; some were homeless, others had no one to turn to, and yet others had no money to survive,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad of the Eastern District of Wisconsin. “He used violence, fear, isolation and coercion to make the victims commit commercial sex acts for his financial benefit. The Department of Justice, working with the Federal Human Trafficking Task Force, has been dedicated to investigating and prosecuting human traffickers so that victims can be free from this modern-day slavery.”
Carter was charged in a superseding indictment returned on Oct. 12, 2016, and now faces a possible sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 15, 2017. As part of the plea agreement, he will be ordered to pay restitution to each of the seven victims identified, with amounts to be determined at sentencing. The case was the result of a joint investigation by the Eastern District of Wisconsin’s Human Trafficking Task Force, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the State of Wisconsin Department of Justice, the Milwaukee Police Department, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit. Prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karine Moreno-Taxman and Laura Kwaterski and Trial Attorney Vasantha Rao.
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Key Facts
- State: Wisconsin
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Human Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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