John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of
Connecticut, announced that MOHAMED H. ABDI, also known as “Vic,” 26, of
Worcester, Massachusetts, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond
Arterton in New Haven to 135 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of
supervised release, for sex trafficking.
According to court documents and statements made in court,
between late December 2016 and January 5, 2017, ABDI and his girlfriend used
threats, force and coercion to cause a female victim to engage in
prostitution. ABDI and his girlfriend
advertised the victim’s prostitution services on Backpage.com and other
websites, rented Connecticut hotel rooms where the victim engaged in
prostitution, and transported the victim to engage in sexual acts with
customers at the hotels and private residences in Connecticut and
elsewhere. In addition, ABDI provided
the victim with heroin, but withheld the drug from the victim until after she
provided sexual services to additional customers. ABDI and his girlfriend also warned the
victim not to contact police and made threats against the victim and her child.
ABDI has been detained since his arrest on related state
charges on January 5, 2017. On April 4,
2018, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by
force, fraud or coercion.
As a condition of his supervised release, ABDI will be
required to register as a sex offender.
This matter was investigated by the Connecticut Human
Trafficking Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Connecticut State
Police, with the assistance of the Wethersfield Police Department and the
Worcester Police Department. The case
was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anastasia E. King.
U.S. Attorney Durham thanked the State’s Attorney for the
Judicial District of Tolland and the Worcester County District Attorney’s
Office for their cooperation and assistance in the prosecution of this matter.
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