BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.
BOSTON – A Dorchester man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston for sex trafficking of minors.
“Sex traffickers recruit young women from families across the economic spectrum,” said Carmen M. Ortiz, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. “No family, no matter how well educated or well off is immune. Traffickers prey upon the vulnerabilities of impressionable young people, and while it is the job of law enforcement to bring traffickers to justice, it is the duty of all to shield young people from predators such as this defendant.”
“A recent trend among sex predators and traffickers is the evolving use of modern communications tools to ‘groom’ a potential victim,” said Special Agent in Charge Matthew Etre, of HSI Boston. “Mr. Pledger’s use of these tools to attempt to lure his child victims into sexual slavery tears at the very fabric of our community. Homeland Security Investigations will continue to work aggressively in cooperation with our federal, state and local partners to attack, disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations that harm the vulnerable members of society through such despicable means.”
Anthony Pledger, a/k/a “Polo,” “Polo B,” and “Jaden,” 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In February 2015, Pledger pleaded guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of two minor women after being indicted in February 2014.
In October 2013, Pledger brought 16 and 15-year-old girls from Massachusetts to Providence, R.I. intending to have them engage in prostitution. The minors were rescued by Rhode Island and Massachusetts police officers before any prostitution occurred.
Judge Young described Pledger’s convictions as “horrific crimes … that have so changed the lives of the victims that it’s impossible to predict.”
The indictment also charged Miriam Kizzie, 21, with sex trafficking of two other minors (identified as Minors 3 and 4) in July 2013. In May 2015, Kizzie was sentenced to 153 months in prison for causing a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl, to be advertised online for prostitution and to engage in prostitution.
Court documents alleged that both Pledger and Kizzie were members of the Thetford Avenue Buffalos, a local Boston street gang. As part of Pledger’s sentence, Judge Young ordered that Pledger may not have contact with other alleged members of the gang during the five years of Pledger’s supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Ortiz, HSI SAC Etre, and Boston Police Commissioner William Evans made the announcement today. The case was also investigated by the Rhode Island State Police, Massachusetts State Police, and the Brookline, Providence, Brockton, and Dedham Police Departments. Significant assistance was provided by the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, and Plymouth, Middlesex and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Offices. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Harman Burkart and Timothy E. Moran of Ortiz’s Civil Rights Enforcement Team.
