U.S. District Court Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. of Alabama sentenced defendant Lonnie Mitchell, 36, of Montgomery, Alabama, to 60 years in prison for coercing several victims, officials announced Friday.
The victims, including a minor, engaged in prostitution for several years.
The judge also ordered the defendant to pay the victims over $950,000 in restitution, officials stated.
In June 2022, following a five-day trial, a jury convicted the defendant of sex trafficking five victims by force, fraud, and coercion.
The jury also found the defendant guilty of sex trafficking a minor and three counts of coercing and enticing an individual to travel in interstate commerce for prostitution, according to authorities.
“The defendant used unspeakable violence and manipulation of the victims’ substance abuse problems to control their every move and exploit them for his own financial gain,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Human trafficking is an atrocious crime that targets some of the most vulnerable members of our society, cruelly robbing them of their dignity and freedom.”
“Today’s sentence reflects the defendant’s horrific treatment and abuse of his victims,” said U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Stewart for the Middle District of Alabama. “Although their physical injuries will heal, the emotional damage caused by their suffering will last a lifetime.”
According to the evidence, Mitchell targeted vulnerable victims who struggled with substance abuse issues and then manipulated their substance abuse problems for his benefit.
He increased the victims’ use of heroin and encouraged them to use it intravenously. He then withheld heroin from the victims, causing extremely painful withdrawal sickness if they violated his rules, including not providing enough sex clients.
Mitchell also used violence, threats of violence and threats to send embarrassing information, photos, or videos to the victims’ loved ones.
In addition, defendant Mitchell regulated how much and when the victims could eat and confiscated their identity documents and credit cards as part of his coercive scheme to control them.
Two co-defendants, Nettisia Mitchell and Donna Emmons, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
Nettisia Mitchell is the sister of defendant Lonnie Mitchell. The court previously sentenced her to 10 years of confinement.
Specifically, Nettisia witnessed her brother’s violence against a victim yet harbored the victim and received the proceeds from the victim’s involvement in commercial sex.
The court previously sentenced Emmons to 151 months of confinement and ordered her to pay $3,500 in restitution.
DHS-HSI, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and Montgomery Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Patrick Lamb and MaryLou Bowdre for the Middle District of Alabama and Trial Attorney Kate Alexander of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.
Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
www.humantraffickinghotline.org.