BATON ROUGE, LA - United States Attorney Walt Green announced today that the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has recognized two Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) for their exceptional work in a commercial sex trafficking prosecution.
In a ceremony at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baton Rouge, FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Mike Anderson presented AUSAs Susan C. Amundson and Frederick A. Menner, Jr., with the FBI Director’s certificates in recognition of their achievements. FBI Supervisory Special Agent Charles Delaughter and FBI Special Agent Taneka Harris were also present.
AUSAs Amundson and Menner were specifically recognized for their work prosecuting Erick Banks, a man convicted of enticing a 15-year-old girl to engage in prostitution. Shortly after running away from home, the victim encountered Banks who used online advertising to offer the victim as a prostitute. Banks used the moniker “Sinsational" or “Blonde Bunny" to describe the victim in ads. Banks instructed the victim how to engage in telephone conversations with potential customers and how to determine if a customer was a law enforcement officer. Banks coordinated the sexual encounters and took the money paid to the victim by customers. Banks was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release after imprisonment and ordered to pay the victim $1,200 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney Green stated: “I join the FBI Director in extending my heartfelt appreciation to AUSAs Amundson and Menner. Their passion, dedication, and talent make all the difference as we pursue justice against the evils of commercial sex trafficking. The same is true of the dedicated FBI agent who worked hand-in-hand with prosecutors throughout the investigation and prosecution. I look forward to our office continuing the fight against commercial sex trafficking with the FBI and our other federal, state, and local partners."
The U.S. Attorney’s Office leads the Middle District of Louisiana Human Trafficking Task Force which is made up of federal, state, and local enforcement agencies, as well as other governmental entities and non-governmental organizations involved in assisting victims of human trafficking. The Task Force members have contributed significantly to raising awareness of this issue, coordinating an appropriate response, and enabling law enforcement to successfully investigate and prosecute these important cases.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
