ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A federal jury sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., returned a verdict this morning finding Shane Roach, 27, guilty on a commercial sex trafficking charge, announced U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Special Agent in Charge Waldemar Rodriguez of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas, and Chief Gorden G. Eden, Jr., of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).
Roach, an Albuquerque resident, was arrested on July 1, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with commercial sex trafficking. Roach subsequently was indicted and charged with using force, threats of threats, and coercion to force a victim to engage in commercial sex acts. The indictment alleged that Roach committed the offense between May and June of 2015 in Bernalillo County, N.M.
The victim, who testified at trial, told the jury that in early 2015 she was a heroin addict who turned to prostitution to support her heroin habit. The victim met Roach in late April 2015, and turned to him for help shortly thereafter when she fell on hard times. For the next month and a half, Roach was the victim’s pimp and forced her to engage in prostitution.
The victim said that, during that time, Roach forced her to engage in sex with men four or five times a day, and that Roach kept all her earnings, amounting to $400.00 to $500.00 a day. The victim also testified that Roach beat her on a number of occasions, brandished a firearm at her, and threatened to harm her family if she left him.
During the month and a half during which she was sex trafficked by Roach, the victim had only three or four days off. An APD detective testified that on May 27, 2015, while acting in an undercover capacity, he arranged to meet the victim at an Albuquerque-area hotel after getting her contact information from an online prostitution advertisement.
Roach testified in his own defense. While generally acknowledging that he was the victim’s pimp, Roach denied using threats of force, force or coercion to force to the victim to engage in commercial sex acts. The jury deliberated about three hours before returning a guilty verdict.
The judge ordered Roach to surrender himself to the U.S. Marshals Service by 3:00 p.m. today. Roach is to be detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Roach faces a statutory mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison.
This case was investigated by the HSI office in Albuquerque and APD’s Vice Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Norman Cairns and Kimberly A. Brawley are prosecuting the case.
Related Federal Cases
- Terry Allen Miles, Kidnapping and Sex Trafficking, Texas 2024 · Colorado
- Maurice Fitzgerald Alexander, Jr., Sex Trafficking of a Minor by Force, Fraud, or Coercion, Arizona 2021 · Colorado
- Vincent Foreman, Sex Offender Registration Violation, New Mexico 2012 · Texas
- Alexander Joseph Johnson, Sex Trafficking of a Minor, Texas 2013 · Colorado
- Daniel Roy Nard, Sex Offender Registration Violation, New Mexico 2023 · Montana
Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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