34-year-old Robert Powell from Las Vegas was sentenced to over 16 years in prison and ten years of supervised release for sex trafficking involving juveniles and adults.
"You were a predator of young women, whether teenagers or adults," said U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones. "Today you ask for compassion when you failed to demonstrate any compassion for your victims.
U.S. Attorney Annette Hays added that Powell used force, fraud, and coercion to control his victims.
"The lengthy prison sentence imposed today sends a clear message and will ensure that others will not fall victim to his predatory ways," she said.
Between Jan. 2014 and Jan. 2015, Powell employed an adult female as a prostitute and transported her across the Western United States, including Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Idaho, and Washington. He used physical and emotional abuse to keep the woman working for him and supply him with all of her earnings.
Powell also recruited two juveniles in Seattle to work for him as prostitutes in 2014. He transported them from Washington to San Jose, California. After forcing them to work as prostitutes, he abandoned them in San Jose, where they were recovered by law enforcement.
He was eventually arrested on Jan. 2015 in Rapid City, South Dakota where he was sex trafficking two adult women. He was returned to Western Washington for prosecution.
