VISALIA – On February 26, 2018 two admitted human traffickers, Quinton Brown, 30, of Highland, and Gerald Turner, 32, of Fresno, were sentenced to prison for multiple felony sex trafficking charges. Brown was sentenced to 28 years and Turner to 11 years. The two plead guilty in January.
A third defendant, Mia McNeil, 32, failed to appear in court and a warrant for her arrest was issued in the amount of $200,000.
In July 2017, Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed 54 felony charges against Brown, Turner and McNeil following a 6-month investigation by the California Department of Justice, Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, Human Trafficking Task Force and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s Regional Human Trafficking Task Force.
The criminal complaint alleged that Brown lured victims from the Central Valley and trafficked them throughout the state. It also alleged that Turner trafficked minors in the Central Valley, and that McNeil fraudulently procured luxury vehicles and apartments used to facilitate the trafficking. McNeil is charged with grand theft auto, identity theft, receiving stolen property and an enhancement for having been to state prison within five years of new offenses.
The victims, including eight minors, were sold for commercial sex throughout the Central Valley, Bay Area and Los Angeles.
The investigation began when a concerned Tulare County mother sought help from the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office regarding her teenage daughter who had run away.
As a result of countless investigative hours dedicated to this case, multiple victims were identified. The majority of the victims were juveniles from Tulare County.
“Human trafficking is a horrible crime that is not taken lightly by law enforcement or the criminal justice system,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona. “Special agents with the Department of Justice work to identify and arrest traffickers and rescue victims.”
