Three men have been sentenced in federal court for trafficking and sexually exploiting three teenage girls who had run away from foster care, forcing them to engage in commercial sex acts for the defendants’ financial benefit, according to an Aug. 3 announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks sentenced Antonio Michel, 36, of Delray Beach, to 180 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor; Jaime Figueroa, 36, of Boynton Beach, to 235 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to production of child sexual abuse material; and Raymond Jean, 46, of Greenacres, to 144 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor.
“These defendants found missing foster children who needed protection and chose instead to exploit them, supply them with drugs, and sell them for profit,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Antonio Michel was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, Jaime Figueroa to 19 years and seven months, and Raymond Jean to 12 years. Their conduct was cruel and predatory, and these sentences reflect our commitment to finding missing children, protecting trafficking victims, and bringing those who prey on them to justice.”
“These defendants targeted some of the most vulnerable children in our community and treated them as a source of profit,” said Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations Miami. “No child should ever be subjected to such cruelty. These sentences represent an important step toward justice for the victims and demonstrate that HSI and our partners will use every tool available to identify, investigate, and bring child predators to justice.”
According to court documents presented during sentencing proceedings held at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s Miami division—which serves more than seven million residents across nine counties covering approximately 15,197 square miles with branch offices including Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach—the defendants preyed upon three teenage girls who had run away from foster care by transporting them between hotels where they were forced into commercial sex acts while being supplied with drugs by one defendant, according to the official website.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations West Palm Beach along with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force; it was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon O’Shea Darsch alongside former Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Chase.