Three Broward pimps sentenced in sex trafficking cases

November 19, 2010|

By Jon Burstein, Sun Sentinel

Three Broward pimps each were sentenced Friday to at least 8 1/2 years in federal prison for their roles in a loose-knit group that prostituted women and at least three underage girls at local hotels.

Michael “Fatboy” Defrand, Johnny “J1” Saintil and Stanley “Bird” Wilson called themselves “PTP” or “Please Talk Paper,” soliciting johns through Internet advertisements from September 2009 to March, according to federal authorities. The group’s name came from an entertainment company formed by one of the men.

One of the girls, a 17-year-old runaway from a Tampa group home, said she would see as many six clients in a night, charging $200 for an hour, according to court documents.Each of the men pleaded guilty in August to a single count of conspiring to sex traffic minors and sex trafficking by force. Defrand also admitted to sex trafficking a minor.

When each of the men went before U.S. District Judge William Zloch, Defrand, 26, got the harshest sentence —15 years and 8 months behind bars. Saintil, 28, was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison, while Wilson, 26, received an 8 1/2-year term.

Defrand’s attorney, John Weekes, said the group of pimps and prostitutes wasn’t so much an organized ring, but more of “a strange family” that would move together from hotel to hotel. Each of the prostitutes reported to one of the pimps.

The runaway said Defrand hit her twice — on one occasion because she was “acting childish,” according to federal court records.

When Zloch asked Defrand why he would threaten the prostitutes, Defrand answered he just wanted “to scare them up.” He described himself as “basically a driver.”

Wilson inspired such a level of devotion from the women working for him that three got tattoos with his nickname “Bird” while he was in the Broward County Jail. During that time in jail, he ordered the assault of one of the women, according to prosecutors.

Howard Greitzer, Wilson’s attorney, said that when his client learned after his arrest that he could face up to life in prison on a sex trafficking charge, his head hit the table and he responded, “I’m just a pimp. I never did minors.”

Saintil told Zloch he never lured any women into prostitution and the women he was involved with were already working. He blamed one of the older prostitutes for recruiting him to be a pimp.

“When I met these girls, I didn’t know anything about [prostitution],” Saintil said.

A 16-year-old girl who worked for Saintil said he punched her in the face and back when he heard she wanted to leave him, according to court records. She eventually was able to flee.

Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4491.

Man gets 25 years for role in sex ring

A Dorchester man was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in federal prison for his role in a vicious prostitution ring that trafficked teenage girls from Maine to Florida.

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Yahoo! Buzz ShareThis .US District Court Judge Nancy Gertner said the lengthy term was not only punishment for Eddie Jones, 27, but was also intended to deter others in the business of trafficking minors.

Because of the violence toward women and minors, “this was one of the most disturbing cases’’ she has seen, Gertner said. “The callousness . . . was quite extraordinary.’’

Jones was convicted last year of one count of conspiracy and two counts of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in prostitution. He is the last of six men to be sentenced in a federal case that put a spotlight on the growing problem of child prostitution in Boston and around the United States. Four men pleaded guilty to conspiracy, while Jones and Darryl Tavares were convicted in a 10-day jury trial that included the testimony of several victims who detailed their abuse and enslavement between 2001 and 2005. Tavares, of Revere, is already serving a 25-year prison sentence.

Child advocates applauded the sentence as an important step in the fight against commercial sexual exploitation of minors, which ensnares tens of thousands of victims across the United States.

Lisa Goldblatt Grace — director of My Life My Choice, a program based in Boston that works to prevent the exploitation of at-risk girls — also lauded the young witnesses who testified against Jones and Tavares, some of them despite threats to their lives. One witness had to be relocated out of state to protect her safety.

“The young women that testified are heroes,’’ said Goldblatt Grace, adding that sex trafficking of minors remains a major problem. “There so much more work to do.’’

During the trial, one witness said she was 17 when Jones and a group of pimps picked her up outside her high school in Maine and brought her to Boston to work as a prostitute. Another said she was recruited by Jones when she was 16. She said she was choked and beaten when she broke his strict rules. A third said that when she was 17, Jones stomped on her face to punish her for using a cellphone.

In calling for a 25-year sentence for Jones, Assistant US Attorney Leah Foley described him as a “brutal offender’’ with a history of abusing women, including his own family members.

“The court needs to punish him,’’ she said. “You can not prostitute underage girls because you want money.’’

Jones told Gertner he made some bad choices, but was entitled to another chance. Several supporters gasped and cried when the sentence was announced. “Be strong,’’ Jones told them before being led away.

Jenifer B. McKim can be reached at jmckim@globe.com.

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