Little Rock - Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas announced that United States District Judge J. Leon Holmes sentenced Jermaine Lamon Roy, age 22, of Little Rock to 15 years imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release for sex trafficking.
“The women forced into sex trafficking now know that Roy will not be able to enslave them for many years to come," stated Thyer. “They have the opportunity to regain their dignity and rebuild their lives without the threat of violence coercing them into sexual servitude. I’m grateful to our many law enforcement partners on the Denied Innocence Task Force for their commitment to protect young women of Arkansas from domestic sex trafficking."
The case was investigated by the Little Rock Police Department Vice Unit in conjunction with the FBI through the Denied Innocence Task Force. They conducted a series of three undercover prostitution operations. Through these operations they learned of a pimp working in Little Rock using the name Vegas. During the third undercover operation, the Denied Innocence Task Force came in contact with a victim who identified the man using the name Vegas as her pimp. Vegas, later determined by investigators to be Roy, was arrested as a result of that sting operation.
Roy was charged in a Superseding Indictment on May 9, 2013, with one count of sex trafficking by the use of force, fraud, or coercion. Aug. 2, 2013, after four and one-half hours of deliberation following four days of testimony and presentation of evidence, the jury found Roy guilty. Testimony from the victim, family members of the victim, and another prostitute who worked for Vegas showed that Roy routinely used force or threatened the use of force to cause the victim to engage in commercial sex acts.
This case was investigated by the Little Rock Police Department Vice Squad in partnership with the FBI Denied Innocence Task Force, of the FBI, the Little Rock, North Little Rock, Benton, Bryant, and Conway Police Departments, the Saline County Sheriff's Office, Arkansas State Police, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Marshal's Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Marsha Clevenger, Tricia Harris and Kristin Bryant.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
