FARGO - U. S. Attorney Christopher C. Myers announced that on September 9, 2016, Tyrice Excell Akins, 29, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was sentenced before U. S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson to serve five years and six months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for two counts of sex trafficking of a child and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. In addition, Akins was sentenced to eighteen months consecutively for one count of possession and distribution of heroin out of Wisconsin. Judge Erickson also ordered Akins to pay a $400 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund.
The case came to the attention of law enforcement after the North Dakota Highway Patrol pulled over a rental vehicle driven by Kurtis Johnson. Found with Johnson was a woman and a 17-year-old female who Johnson transported from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Bismarck, North Dakota, for the purpose of prostitution. A subsequent investigation revealed that Johnson was provided narcotics by Akins in exchange for transporting women and one juvenile to various locations throughout the United States, including Florida, Louisiana, and North Dakota, throughout 2014 and 2015 for the purpose of prostitution.
This case was investigated by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations.
Assistant U. S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl is prosecuting the case.
This case was prosecuted with the assistance of the North Dakota Human Trafficking Task Force (NDHTTF), which includes regional response teams that consists of federal, state, and local law enforcement and victim service providers working together to identify and rescue human trafficking victims as well as investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, BCI, and the North Dakota Counsel on Abused Women Services (CAWS), the NDHTTF is dedicated to addressing the individualized needs of human trafficking victims and the apprehension, investigation, and prosecution of the perpetrators of human trafficking.
The NDHTTF includes representatives from Youthworks, the Children’s Advocacy Center, the Domestic Violence Crisis Center, Lutheran Social Services, the ND Association of Counties, a Force to End hUman Sexual Exploitation (FUSE), a survivor of human trafficking, First Nations Women’s Alliance (FNWA), and the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
