Richard Rodriguez Gray, 34, of Overtown, was sentenced yesterday in Miami, Florida, by U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez of the Southern District of Florida, to 15 years in prison, 25 years of supervised release, and sex offender conditions, including compliance with the Adam Walsh Act requirement that Gray register as a sex offender for life. Gray previously pled guilty to sex trafficking a minor.
Benjamin G. Greenberg, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Robert F. Lasky, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.
According to the court record, on Nov. 28, 2017, Gray posted an advertisement on www.backpage.com, in the South Escort section of the South Florida Adult Entertainment portion of the website. The advertisement included two, clothed pictures of a 16-year old minor victim and provided contact information for Gray.
On or about December 7, 2017, law enforcement, in an undercover capacity (“UC") responded to the advertisement posted on www.backpage.com as an interested client by sending text messages to the telephone number that Gray posted. Gray and the UC agreed that the minor victim would have sex with the UC for one hour for approximately $250. Gray and the UC further agreed that the UC could meet the minor victim in a motel room in Miami, Florida.
On December 8, 2017, at approximately 1:00 a.m., Gray and the minor victim arrived at the motel, where law enforcement was waiting to recover the minor. Gray had escorted the minor victim to the hotel to engage in prostitution. Gray was taken into custody at the hotel.
Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. Mr. Greenberg also thanked the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force and Miami-Dade Police Department for their dedication to this matter. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Cervantes.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida atwww.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
