WASHINGTON – James Mozie of Oakland
Park, Fla., was sentenced today to life in prison on charges of sex trafficking
of minors and production of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney
General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Wifredo
A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; and John V.
Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami Field Office.
Mozie, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District
Judge William P. Dimitrouleas in the Southern District of Florida. In addition to the life prison term, Mozie
was sentenced to 10 years of supervised release.
On Dec. 20, 2011, Mozie was found guilty of
all 10 counts against him, including sex trafficking of minors, conspiracy to
commit sex trafficking of minors and production of child pornography.
At trial, seven different victims, many minor
runaways at the time they met Mozie, testified that they worked or were
recruited to work as prostitutes at Mozie’s residence, which he advertised as
“The Boom Boom Room.” According to the
trial evidence, The Boom Boom Room, also known as Lot 29, operated for more
than one year as a house of prostitution.
Mozie advertised the business through the use of mass text messages to
his contacts, letting people know about the activities taking place at the
house each night. When customers
arrived, they paid a cover charge to the security guard working the front
door. The females, many of them minors,
worked in the house dancing for tips and engaging in sexual activity with male
customers for money.
The seven victims, all minors when the
offenses occurred, testified that when they first arrived at the residence,
Mozie asked them to complete an application with information such as name,
stage name, date of birth and the sexual acts they were willing to
perform. All of the minor victims
testified that they provided their correct dates of birth to Mozie, who advised
them not to tell customers that they were underage. Several of the minor victims testified that
before working as a prostitute for Mozie, he required them to have sex with him
as part of their “orientation,” which he explained was his way of “testing the
merchandise.” They also testified that
Mozie would take sexually explicit pictures of them, which he attached to the
text messages advertising the brothel.
Previously, co-defendant Laschell “Shelly”
Harris pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor and was
sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Co-defendant Willie David Rice pleaded guilty to one count of being a
felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to four years in prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the
Broward County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office Minor Vice Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Harry Wallace and Corey Steinberg of the Southern District of Florida
and Trial Attorney Thomas Franzinger of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity
Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
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