North Carolina
U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr on Thursday sentenced Xaver M. Boston, 31, of Charlotte, North Carolina, to serve 40 years in prison, federal prosecutors stated.
Judge Conrad also ordered Boston to pay $354,000 in restitution.
A federal jury in Charlotte previously convicted Boston on Oct. 11, 2018, of six counts of sex trafficking and one count of using an interstate facility to promote a prostitution enterprise.
Evidence presented during the three-day trial, including the testimony of three of the four victims, revealed that Boston, who served in the U.S. Army as a reserve military policeman, operated an extensive sex trafficking enterprise in the Charlotte area between 2012 and September 2017, except for a brief period when he was deployed overseas.
Boston recruited young women and one teenager by promising to provide them with a place to live and heroin or other opioids. Boston then advertised the victims on Backpage.com for prostitution and collected the proceeds for his own profit.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Boston used violence to control and coerce the victims.
Testimony revealed that on multiple occasions, Boston choked one victim and punched and slapped other victims. He also used a pistol to strike one victim in the face, breaking her nose.
“Boston used fear, coercion and violence against young women to build a depraved sex trafficking criminal enterprise, robbing his victims of the most basic standards of human dignity. I could not be more pleased with his lengthy sentence,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray.
Adding, “My office will continue to work with our law enforcement counterparts to hold accountable those who engage in this illegal, dehumanizing trade, and partner with community organizations to ensure victims receive the support they need on their path to recovery.”