ATLANTA — Five people are facing prison time for their involvement in a sex trafficking scheme that unfolded in Georgia, according to prosecutors.
The investigation started after a minor was reported missing in Miami, Florida when her parents realized she didn't board a flight to Honduras. Prosecutors said she was taken by two people to Georgia and "forced to commit commercial sex acts and participate in 'sex parties.'"
U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in a news release that the group of men forced at least six girls between 16 and 17 years old into prostitution starting around November 2015 through December 2016. Nilageo Alvarez-Acosta, Jaime Adam Riano, Anthony Joseph Lawhon and Brandi Rice Stumpe were co-defendants in the case; Brian Hernandez Acosta is the accused ringleader.
A news release from the Department of Justice North District of Georgia outlines that Hernandez Acosta pursued some of the girls on Facebook and Snapchat, and posted provocative photographs of them in the adult entertainment section of a classified advertisement website that was seized by the DOJ.
Prosecutors said Hernandez Acosta used these ads to sell the minors for sex or money. The ads used fake names and lied about the girls' ages.
Hernandez Acosta and his brother, Alvarez-Acosta, forced one of the 16-year-old girls to engage in sex with men after driving her from Florida to Georgia after lying to her and telling her they would provide her a place to live, according to prosecutors.
"The defendants required the young girls to engage in sex acts with multiple men each night and kept a large portion of the money they earned," prosecutors said.
Riano acted as the driver, taking the girls to locations throughout North Georgia. Between July 2016 and December 2016, Lawhon and Stumpe "hosted numerous sex parties" at their home in Canton in which the young girls were involved while intoxicating them with alcohol and cocaine. Investigators said these behaviors were evidenced in photos recovered from Hernandez Acosta's cellphone. Authorities were able to connect Lawhon to Hernandez Acosta via a payment of thousands of dollars for "commercial sex and cocaine."
"Sex trafficking exploits and traumatizes some of the most vulnerable members of our society,” Buchanan said. “Sex trafficking victims from immigrant communities can be especially fearful of reporting these crimes. So, our office is grateful for the diligence of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners who remained steadfast in achieving the trust of the victims in this case and helping to secure justice for these young girls and their families.”
Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. sentenced the defendants:
- Jaime Adam Riano, 34, of East Ridge, Tennessee, was sentenced to seven years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Riano pleaded guilty on November 17, 2017, to two counts of sex trafficking children under 18 years old.
- Nilageo Alvarez-Acosta, 37, of Camaguey, Cuba, was sentenced to 23 years in prison to be followed by 20 years of supervised release. Alvarez-Acosta pleaded guilty on April 11, 2019, to the offense of sex trafficking of a minor, transportation of a minor for prostitution, and two counts of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor.
- Brian Hernandez Acosta, 32 of Havana, Cuba, was sentenced to 30 years in prison to be followed by 20 years of supervised release. Acosta was sentenced after pleading guilty on July 1, 2019, to conducting a child exploitation enterprise, sex trafficking minors by force, fraud, or coercion, sex trafficking of children under 18 years old, transporting a minor in interstate commerce for prostitution, producing child pornography, and distributing cocaine to a person under 21 years old.
- Brandi Rice Stumpe, 40, of Powder Springs, Georgia, was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release, including 100 hours of community service. Stumpe pleaded guilty on August 5, 2020, to the offense of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor.
- Anthony Joseph Lawhon, 44, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty on April 14, 2022, to the offense of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Dalton Police Department investigated the case. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Murray County Sheriff’s Office also helped.
