Gulfport federal jury convicts man of sex trafficking
A man who kidnapped a woman in Las Vegas and then used sexual violence, intimidation and threats of harm to force her into commercial sex was found guilty of sex trafficking in U.S. District Court in Gulfport.
A jury convicted Michael Deon Fulcher, 54, of sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution. His sentencing is set for April 30. Fulcher faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and mandatory restitution for the sex trafficking charge.
His co-defendant, 35-year-old Jonzie Hamilton, pleaded guilty to interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution and is awaiting sentencing on January 31.
“The defendant preyed upon this vulnerable victim and used sexual violence and threats of physical harm to coerce her into commercial sex for his own financial gain,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We thank this victim for bravely facing her trafficker. The Justice Department will vigorously prosecute these cases to hold human traffickers accountable and bring justice to their victims.”
According to evidence presented at trial, Fulcher used sexual assault, threats of violence, isolation, control, psychological manipulation and emotional abuse to compel the victim to engage in commercial sex between April and June 2020. Fulcher lured the physically injured victim into his car in Las Vegas by making false promises to help her, but then brought her to his home, where he sexually assaulted her.
He then took the victim to California, where he worked with Hamilton to compel the victim to engage in commercial sex acts over the course of several weeks. Fulcher required the victim to follow his strict rules, threatened the victim with physical harm, confiscated her money and Social Security debit card and even had an unlicensed dentist pull out her teeth. Fulcher also sent the victim and Hamilton across the country for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex, stopping in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana and eventually Mississippi where the victim ran away.
Fulcher required the victim to send him all of her earnings and continued his coercive scheme by threatening the victim with physical harm, controlling her access to her phone, isolating her from anyone she knew and refusing to allow her to receive much-needed medical treatment.
