A federal jury has found a Stone Mountain man guilty of running a violent sex trafficking operation in Atlanta.
Solomon Manessah Mustafa, 38, was convicted of sex trafficking, kidnapping, transporting women across state lines for prostitution, document servitude, and enticement of a minor for sexual activity.
"This defendant brutally assaulted young women to force them into acts of prostitution in three states," U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a statement. "While all of the victims managed to escape from the defendant, many were beaten, raped, handcuffed and forced to snort cocaine by the defendant and his co-conspirator. Now, he faces a lengthy sentence in federal prison."
According to prosecutors, Mustafa and 25 year-old co-defendant Kalandra Annette Wallace—who pleaded guilty last year and testified against Mustafa at his trial—lured young women to Atlanta through postings on websites like CraigsList. Once the women arrived, Mustafa and Wallace locked them in apartments and hotel rooms, beat them into submission and ultimately forced them into prostitution.
Prosecutors also accused Mustafa of attempting to entice a 14-year old girl via text messaging. Mustafa encouraged the minor to text explicit pictures of herself to him. When she did, he told her that she could be his "sex slave" and traveled to her home to pick her up.
"Fortunately, Mustafa let the young girl go in a subdivision close to her home," the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department prosecuted the case because Mustafa moved some of the victims in interstate commerce, sending multiple young women to Homewood, Ala., where they engaged in prostitution.
But multiple Georgia agencies participated in the investigation and prosecution, including the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Metro Atlanta Child Exploitation Task force, which is made up of metro-area police departments.
"Combating human trafficking begins with an aggressive investigation and culminates with a relentless prosecution," Brian D. Lamkin, special agent in charge of the FBI's Atlanta office, said in a statement. "Today's guilty verdict in one of the most heinous human trafficking matters to be addressed in this region is most heartfelt by those directly involved."
Mustafa faces a maximum punishment of life in prison at his Sept. 19 sentencing hearing.
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