Human trafficking in Memphis: Feds detail case involving Houston man, Memphis prostitute

 Authorities in Texas say a man has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges that include forcing three women into prostitution by means of violence and fraud. The victims were trafficked in seven states, including Tennessee. 

One of the victims of the sex-trafficking ring that Marquis Holmes, 28, from Houston, pleaded guilty to organizing was forced to engage in commercial sex acts in Memphis, prosecutors said.

Multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating the extent and circumstances of the crimes, according to a release by Immigrant Customs & Enforcement, but some details have been made available to the public. 

A memo from ICE says that Holmes recruited three women through social media to work as prostitutes for him, often under false pretenses from June, 2015 until his arrest in March of 2018. 

Holmes is said to have taken two women, by force, throughout several states including Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina.

He also reportedly coerced the women into posing for online ads for sex and kept all money that the women earned from the forced acts. 

At the time of his arrest, according to ICE, a third woman along with her infant were rescued from where Holmes was staying. This woman, authorities said, was beaten and deprived of food if she did not meet monthly monetary quotas from commercial sex acts. 

Holmes will be sentenced in a Texas federal court Sept. 19. He faces life in prison.