The Los Angeles Police Department says its investigations have led to the convictions of five Los Angeles men who tried to commercially exploit women and teenage girls as young as 13 as prostitutes.
Four of the five men convicted were self-identified gang members, and most of them used the Western Avenue and Figueroa Street corridor for sex trafficking, police said. These investigations took place over the last year and-a-half.
The men are 24-year-old Ulis Morris, 41-year-old Raylonzo Roberts, 27- year-old Christian Wheeler, 38-year-old Rodney Saxton and 38-year-old Benjamin Pennington.
Morris was found guilty of three counts of human trafficking of minors at trial in a Los Angeles Superior Court and was sentenced to 21 years and four months in state prison.
Roberts was found guilty of two counts of human trafficking of minors at trial and was sentenced to 16 years in state prison.
Wheeler pleaded guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court to pimping charges and violation of the California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act. Wheeler received an 11-year sentence for his crime.
In a plea agreement filed in court, Saxton specifically admitted that he trafficked his victim and made criminal threats, police said. Saxton was sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison and is required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.
Pennington pleaded guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court to human trafficking of a minor, human trafficking of an adult and dissuading witnesses from prosecuting a crime. Pennington received 16 years and eight months in prison.
—City News Service