His Wife and Mother Were Previously Sentenced to Prison in
Connection with the Case
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Zerrell Ross Fuentes, 24, of Charlotte,
was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking three minor
females, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of
North Carolina. In addition to the prison term imposed, U.S. District Judge Max
O. Cogburn Jr. ordered Fuentes to serve a lifetime under court supervision
after he is released from prison.
According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing
hearing, between April 28, 2016 and May 8, 2016, Fuentes, his wife, Brianna
Wright, and his mother, Tanya Marie Fuentes, engaged in the sex trafficking of
three minor victims. Court records show
that, while he was in jail on state charges, Zerrell Fuentes devised a scheme to
involve three underage girls in prostitution so that they could earn money for
his bond. Zerrell Fuentes arranged for
his wife to transport the minor victims from Charlotte to Myrtle Beach, S.C.,
for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts while they were in Myrtle
Beach.
According to court records, Wright, accompanied by Zerrell
Fuentes’ mother, Tanya Fuentes, drove the three minors from Charlotte to Myrtle
Beach. While in Myrtle Beach, Tanya
Fuentes paid for lodging. Brianna Wright drove the minors to meet clients for
the purpose of engaging in sexual acts for money, and her phone was used to
post prostitution advertisements for the minor victims on the Internet. While in Myrtle Beach, at least two minor
victims committed sexual acts.
“Zerrell Fuentes, his wife, and his mother ran a depraved
family business engaged in the sex trafficking of young girls for profit,” said
U.S. Attorney Murray. “Children are not commodities to be advertised and traded
for the financial benefit of wicked adults. The protection of helpless and
impressionable minors should be an adult’s priority. Anyone who violates the
trust of children for their financial gain deserves to spend three decades
behind bars, if not longer, where they can no longer destroy young lives.”
Zerrell Fuentes is currently in federal custody. He will be
transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of
a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of
parole.
On August 26, 2019, Wright was sentenced to 10 years in
prison, and Tanya Fuentes was ordered to serve 24 months in prison, for their
involvement in the case.
In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray
commended the law enforcement agents and officers from ICE’s Homeland Security
Investigations and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department who are members
of the FBI’s Human Trafficking Task Force for their investigation. He also thanked the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their assistance in this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimlani Ford, of the U.S. Attorney’s
Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment