An Amarillo woman was sentenced today to 34 months in federal prison for harassing a sex trafficking victim in an attempt to dissuade her from testifying against her trafficker, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.
Deziree Lujan, 29, pleaded guilty to witness tampering in March. She was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Ada Brown.
According to plea papers, Ms. Lujan admitted that she threatened to beat a sex trafficking victim for cooperating against defendant Tremont Blakemore, who was charged in September 2019 with operating a large-scale human trafficking operation.
Mr. Blakemore, aka “Macknificent,” allegedly forced multiple women into commercial sex and slapped, punched, choked, and kicked victims he believed were not being honest or making enough money for him. He is slated to go to trial on August 23. (Like all defendants, Mr. Blakemore is presumed innocent until proven guilty.)
Ms. Lujan, a member of Mr. Blakemore’s alleged trafficking organization, admits she outed one of Mr. Blakemore’s alleged victims on social media, calling her “a snitch,” and “a rat.”
Ms. Lujan threatened the victim with physical harm, warned the victim that she would post law enforcement reports about the victim online, and reached out to known pimps to reveal the victim’s identity and cooperation.
The defendant admitted she acted intentionally to harass the victim in order to dissuade her from testifying against Mr. Blakemore.
Homeland Security Investigations’ North Texas Trafficking Task Force conducted the investigation into Ms. Lujan. They also led the investigation into Mr. Blakemore, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanie Smith prosecuted the case.
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