MARYLAND, USA — A man and woman will spend years in jail for their roles in a sex trafficking operation that involved teenage victims in Maryland.
According to a release from the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, 49-year-old Willis Lewis, of Oxen Hill, Maryland and 33-year-old Brittany Jones, of Suitland, Maryland, were sentenced Friday.
Lewis has been sentenced to life in prison and Jones was sentenced to 14 years in prison after a jury found them both guilty in May 2022.
The duo was charged with trafficking two girls, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old, between April and May of 2019.
Two co-conspirators, who have since pleaded guilty, admitted to bringing the two teenage girls to Lewis with the intent to traffic them. After the girls were in Lewis's custody, he set up "dates" for the girls every day for almost two weeks. He then pocketed the money that the girls made in exchange for the "dates."
Prosecutors say Lewis used a loyalty contract, a gun and acts of violence to coerce the girls into performing commercial sex acts for his profit. Police began investigating after the two girls ran away from a residential facility in Virginia and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children issued a missing person report.
Jones and Lewis were both found guilty of four counts of sex trafficking of children by force, fraud, and coercion, one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, three counts of coercion or enticement of a minor, two counts of transporting for prostitution, one count of interstate travel and transportation in aid of racketeering, and a firearms offense; Jones was additionally convicted of four counts including sex trafficking, conspiracy, and transportation in aid of racketeering.
“This lengthy sentence gets a dangerous predator off the streets for a very long time.” said U.S. Attorney Graves. “His lengthy confinement will keep other teenagers safe and serve as a warning to those who are considering exploiting our youth."
In addition to the prison term, both Jones and Lewis were ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release and to pay $17,000 in restitution to the victims.
“Today’s sentences demonstrate that the FBI and our partners will aggressively investigate all members of sex trafficking networks, from the leader of the operation to those involved in the recruitment, transportation, and harboring of victims,” said Special Agent in Charge Jacobs. “Let this be a message to anyone who would engage in trafficking minors: The FBI will ensure that those engaged in these horrid crimes are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhoodgov.
