Dallas man pleads guilty to trafficking hundreds of women in North Texas

A Dallas man pleaded responsible Wednesday to trafficking tons of of girls in North Texas.

Tremont Blakemore, 42, who additionally goes by the nickname “Macknificent,” admitted not solely to working a large-scale trafficking group, however to utilizing violence to drive girls to “have interaction in business intercourse acts for his monetary profit,” the U.S. legal professional’s workplace for the Northern District of Texas mentioned.

“This defendant systematically brutalized his victims, convincing them that they’d no selection however to stay life in keeping with his dictates,” U.S. Lawyer Chad Meacham mentioned in a written assertion. “We hope that this responsible plea will likely be a balm to survivors as they work to rebuild their lives.”

Blakemore, together with Donna Gonzalez and Peaches Hurtado, was arrested in September 2018 at a house in Fort Value the place officers discovered 11 girls; they found 4 extra girls at a Lancaster location. Authorities imagine Blakemore might have manipulated tons of of girls in a number of different Texas cities, together with girls from Maine, Montana and Wyoming.

The U.S. legal professional’s workplace mentioned Blakemore admitted forcing these girls to journey cross-country for business intercourse. He then demanded the ladies flip over all proceeds to him and required them to hunt permission for any private bills.

In accordance with courtroom information, Blakemore made greater than $840,000 from December 2017 to September 2018. He spent extravagantly at luxurious retailers together with Versace and Gucci, and paid greater than $300,000 for luxurious vehicles. Blakemore additionally purchased diamond and gold jewellery and Rolex watches, the U.S. legal professional’s workplace mentioned.

Blakemore admitted that when the ladies disobeyed him — leaving the home with out permission or retaining cash for themselves — he would flip violent, the U.S. legal professional’s workplace mentioned. In accordance with courtroom paperwork, the ladies informed officers he punched, choked and kicked them and burned them with cigarettes.

Blakemore faces as much as 20 years in federal jail. His sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 6.

David Finn, the legal professional representing Blakemore, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Finn beforehand mentioned his shopper didn’t have interaction in intercourse trafficking.

“He was a big-time pimp, however these girls knew precisely what they had been doing, and he didn’t visitors any of them,” Finn mentioned in July.

In July, 29-year-old Deziree Lujan, who prosecutors mentioned was a part of Blakemore’s operation, was sentenced to 34 months in jail for making an attempt to intimidate a sex-trafficking sufferer who was a witness in a federal prostitution case.

The costs towards Gonzalez and Hurtado, which included aggravated promotion of prostitution, participating in organized legal exercise and cash laundering, had been dismissed, courtroom information present.