ALEXANDRIA, VA—Michael Tavon Jefferies, aka “Loc,” 21, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role as a bodyguard for a gang-led prostitution business that recruited and trafficked high school girls.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II, Attorney General of Virginia; Colonel David Rohrer, Fairfax County Chief of Police; and Ronald T. Hosko, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.
On April 12, 2012, Jefferies pled guilty to sex trafficking of a juvenile. According to court records, Jefferies was a member of the Underground Gangster Crips (UGC) set based in Fairfax County, Virginia, and he assisted the gang in sex trafficking of juveniles and adults from about November 2011 to January 2012. He served as a bodyguard for the UGC prostitution enterprise and collected the proceeds received from prostitution, providing a portion to another member of UGC and keeping a portion for himself. Jefferies also paid for an advertisement on Backpage.com to solicit customers and paid for hotel rooms for one of the juvenile prostitutes.
This case was investigated by the Fairfax County Police Department and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, with assistance from the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force. Virginia Assistant Attorney General and Special Assistant United States Attorney Marc Birnbaum and Assistant United States Attorney Inayat Delawala are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
Founded in 2004, the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force is a collaboration of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies—along with non-governmental organizations—dedicated to combating human trafficking and related crimes.
