MADISON, WIS. - Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Harry Miller, 60, Madison, Wisconsin, was found guilty of sex trafficking and maintaining a place for distributing and using heroin and cocaine. The jury reached its verdict yesterday evening after seven hours of deliberation following a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Madison.
The evidence presented at trial showed that what began as an investigation into drug distribution by Miller also became a sex trafficking investigation when officers with the Dane County Narcotics Task Force discovered that Miller had forced two women to engage in commercial sex acts. The two women testified that Miller used threats and physical violence to force them into acts of prostitution from March to June 2017 in the Madison area. They also testified that Miller withheld heroin from them until they were in physical withdrawal from the drug to force them to engage in prostitution.
The jury also found that Miller maintained a place in Madison during that same time period for the purpose of distributing and using heroin and cocaine.
U.S. District Judge William M. Conley scheduled sentencing for August 16 at 1:00 p.m. Miller faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum of life in federal prison on the sex trafficking convictions, and a maximum of 20 years on the drug conviction.
The charges against Miller were the result of an investigation by the Dane County Sheriff’s Office, Madison Police Department, Dane County Narcotics Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Pfluger and Diane Schlipper.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
