CHARLOTTE, N.C. – An indictment was unsealed today in
federal court following the arrest of Xaver Boston, 28, of Charlotte, announced
Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Justice Department’s Civil
Rights Division, U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray of the Western District of
North Carolina, and Special Agent in Charge John Strong of the FBI Charlotte,
North Carolina, Field Division. The indictment charges Boston with six counts
of sex trafficking, one count of inducing a person to travel in interstate
commerce for purposes of prostitution, and two counts of using an interstate
facility to promote a prostitution enterprise.
According to the indictment, between 2012 and Spring 2016,
and again between Spring 2017 and September 2017, the defendant operated a
prostitution enterprise and sex trafficked young women, including one minor
girl. The defendant advertised the women
on Backpage.com and collected the prostitution proceeds for his own
profit. He provided the women with
drugs, including heroin, to maintain control of their actions, and he used
violence as punishment when he suspected they were withholding proceeds from
him, lying to him, or not following his directions.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Each sex trafficking count carries a minimum
sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life, as well as
mandatory restitution and a $250,000 fine.
The case is being investigated by the FBI in Charlotte and
the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimlani M. Ford of the Western District of North
Carolina and Trial Attorney Matthew T. Grady of the Civil Rights Division’s
Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
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