Defendant Sold Heroin and Used Violence, Threats and
Coercion to Compel Three Young Heroin-Addicted Women to Prostitute for His
Profit in Wisconsin and Minnesota
Monta Groce, 30, of Sparta, Wisconsin, was convicted by a
federal jury of three counts of sex trafficking by force, threats of force or
coercion; one count of conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation for
prostitution; one count of interstate transportation for prostitution; one
count of maintaining a property for drug trafficking; one count of using a
firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and one count of witness
retaliation. The verdict was announced by
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice
Department’s Civil Rights Division; U.S. Attorney John W. Vaudreuil of the
Western District of Wisconsin and FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Shields
of the FBI’s Milwaukee Division.
After deliberating for 10 hours, the jury found the
defendant guilty on all counts, with the exception of one count of attempted
sex trafficking. Sentencing is scheduled
for Oct. 19, 2016. The defendant faces a
minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in
prison.
“Groce supported the heroin epidemic impacting our country
and exploited vulnerable young women by forcing them to engage in
prostitution,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gupta. “I commend the trial team, investigators and
victim advocates for their incredible work in this case. The Civil Rights Division will continue our
vigorous efforts to work with our federal and state partners to hold human
traffickers accountable and vindicate the rights of victims.”
“These cases are about horrible violence against women –
Groce violently forced vulnerable victims into commercial sex,” said U.S.
Attorney Vaudreuil. “The Department of
Justice will not tolerate the exploitation of sex-trafficked women and children
and we will continue to bring traffickers to justice on their behalf. These crimes, which took place in a small
city, demonstrate that sex trafficking is not just a big city issue; it is
happening in rural America too.”
“Human traffickers like Monta Groce, who prey on vulnerable
women and children, will be aggressively investigated by the FBI from major
cities to rural communities such as Sparta, Wisconsin, so the victims may be
rescued and the perpetrators brought to justice,” said FBI Special Agent in
Charge Shields.
Evidence presented during the four-day trial, including the
testimony of the three victims identified in the indictment as Jane Does 1
through 3, revealed that the defendant sold heroin in Sparta between December
2012 and April 2013. During that time,
he enticed the victims to begin prostituting for his profit by providing them
with heroin and pretending to be in love with them. As their dependency on him increased, he
turned to violence and threatened to cut off their heroin supply if they
disobeyed him, withheld money earned from prostitution or otherwise refused to
prostitute. Groce further kept some of
the victims in perpetual debt by fronting them heroin and charging fines as
punishment. He advertised the victims on
Backpage.com and paid other addicts to drive them from Wisconsin to Minnesota
to prostitute. On one occasion, he gave
heroin to a male heroin-addict to sell and then accused the man of stealing
some of the heroin when he returned after the sale fell through. Groce beat the man in front of two of the
victims, pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill him unless he paid Groce
for the purportedly missing drugs.
According to her testimony, Jane Doe 1 began using heroin
when she was 15 and met the defendant when she was 19, around January 2013. She testified that Groce was initially kind
to her, called her beautiful and offered her a place to stay when she had
nowhere else to go. He started selling
her heroin, and shortly after, he manipulated her emotions to convince her to
start prostituting for him. Groce
required her to prostitute before giving her heroin, and if she disobeyed him,
he punished her by cutting her off, causing her to suffer intense and painful
withdrawal symptoms. On one occasion, he
burned her face with a cigarette because she withheld money from him. She escaped with the help of Jane Doe 2. Later on in April 2014, the defendant beat,
punched and kicked her while calling her a snake and a snitch because she had
previously cooperated with law enforcement.
After the beating, she was covered in blood and bruises.
Jane Doe 2 testified that she met the defendant when she was
21, around December 2012, after her mother died from a drug overdose. Her mother’s death caused her to start using
heroin and the defendant became her dealer.
She helped Jane Doe 1 escape from the defendant and then was forced
herself to prostitute because, as the defendant put it, she caused him to lose
money. On one occasion, when Jane Doe 2
refused to answer a prostitution call, Groce told her that she had to do the
call to get her heroin. When she told
him that he was not giving her a choice, he pointed to his gun and responded
that she always has a choice. On another
occasion, the defendant beat Jane Doe 2, throwing her into a bathtub because
she had sex with a prostitution customer in his bed, rather than the designated
bed for prostitution, which was occupied by another victim and customer.
Jane Doe 3 testified that on one occasion she misplaced a
debit card containing money belonging to Groce. In response, Groce ordered her to do a
prostitution call to pay him back. Jane
Doe 3 had to work that evening at her regular job and told Groce that she did
not want to do the call. Groce insisted
and told her that if she refused then he would cut off her entire supply of
heroin. Jane Doe 3 testified concerning
the debilitating symptoms of heroin withdrawal and stated that she did the call
for Groce because she feared suffering those symptoms.
The case was investigated by FBI’s Milwaukee Division with assistance
from the Sparta Police Department and Monroe County, Wisconsin, Joint
Investigative Task Force. The case is
being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie S. Pfluger of the Western
District of Wisconsin and Trial Attorney Shan Patel of the Civil Rights
Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
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