Tag Archives: sex trafficking

The Associated Press reports: A formerly well-connected GOP donor convicted of giving teenage girls gifts, alcohol and money in exchange for sex was sentenced Wednesday to 21 years in prison on sex trafficking charges. Anton “Tony” Lazzaro was found guilty in March by a federal jury of seven counts involving “commercial sex acts” with five girls ages 15 and 16 …

CNN reports: Investigators from the House Ethics Committee have begun reaching out to witnesses as part of a recently revived investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, focused on allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, illicit drug use or other misconduct. At least one witness in Florida told CNN they have spoken to investigators about the Republican …

The New Castle News reports: A New Castle man accused of child sex trafficking and corrupting children in Ohio has been found guilty by a jury in Mahoning County Court. The Ohio jury’s verdict was delivered Wednesday against 35-year-old Jarod Mills of West Terrace Ave. of unlawful attempted sexual contact with a minor. Mill was arrested in Mahoning County in …

Punchbowl News reports: The House Ethics Committee has restarted an investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the latest legal problem for the controversial Florida Republican, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The secretive panel hasn’t decided yet whether to move ahead with a special investigative subcommittee. That would require a vote by the Ethics Committee members and would …

CBS News reports: Anton Lazzaro, a former GOP operative, has been found guilty of sex trafficking underage girls. Lazzaro was charged with seven counts involving “commercial sex acts” with five minors ages 15 and 16 in 2020, when he was 30 years old. Closing arguments wrapped on Friday, and the jury was handed the case shortly before noon. The jury …

CNN reports: The Justice Department has informed lawyers for at least one witness that it will not bring charges against Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz after a years-long federal sex-trafficking investigation, according to a source familiar with the matter. Senior officials reached out to lawyers for at least one witness on Wednesday, the source tells CNN, to inform them of …

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: Forty-six men who included a high school football coach, a youth pastor and a director of operations at a hospital were recently arrested during a multi-agency operation targeting the demand for commercial sex in North Texas, a federal agency announced on Friday. The names of the suspects were not released by federal authorities. The joint …

Talking Points Memo reports: The Florida Republican has reportedly been under investigation for potentially trafficking a 17-year-old girl since late 2020. We knew Gaetz sought a presidential pardon from White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to sidestep the whole ordeal. Tuesday’s transcript adds new details from Johnny McEntee. “He told me to ask Meadows for a pardon,” McEntee said. The …

ABC News reports: Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector who sources say agreed to cooperate in the federal probe into his one-time close associate, Rep. Matt Gaetz, was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to crimes ranging from wire fraud to sex trafficking a minor. Greenberg pleaded guilty last May to six of the 33 …

The Daily Beast reports: Disgraced former Fox News anchor Ed Henry’s motion to dismiss allegations that he violated New York’s so-called “revenge porn” statute against his sexual assault accuser was rejected by a federal judge this week. U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams also ruled that ex-Fox associate producer Jennifer Eckhart’s accusation of sex trafficking against Henry could continue. Weeks after …

The Washington Post reports: Career prosecutors have recommended against charging Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in a long-running sex-trafficking investigation — telling Justice Department superiors that a conviction is unlikely in part because of credibility questions with the two central witnesses, according to people familiar with the matter. Senior department officials have not made a final decision on whether to charge …

The Washington Post reports: Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told a former White House aide that he was seeking a preemptive pardon from President Donald Trump regarding an investigation in which he is a target, according to testimony given to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Johnny McEntee, according to people familiar with his …

The Daily Beast reports: Eight people with direct knowledge of the probe confirmed to The Daily Beast that the case is still unfolding—albeit at a methodical pace—as federal prosecutors work their way across a number of spokes of possible criminality. Lyle Mazin, a criminal defense attorney who represents a witness in the case, told The Daily Beast that the quiet …

The Northwest Florida News reports: Niceville resident Stephen Alford will serve 63 months, or just over five years, in federal prison for attempting to extort $25 million from Don Gaetz, a former state Senate president and father of Florida’s First District Congressman Matt Gaetz. The plan to extort money from the Gaetz family, spelled out in documents filed with the …

The New York Daily News reports: Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly, who for decades preyed on his fans through psychological and sexual abuse, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison. The 55-year-old multiplatinum-selling artist, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, had faced up to a life sentence. He was convicted last September of nine racketeering counts for a …

The New York Post reports: Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 in prison Tuesday for her role in helping powerful pedophile Jeffrey Epstein abuse young girls, capping off a dramatic fall from grace for the British socialite turned-convicted sex-trafficker. Maxwell’s sentencing marked the end of the federal criminal proceedings against her in the Southern District of New York, where she …

The Hill reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is facing backlash after questioning how many “over-educated, under-loved” women have participated in protests supporting abortion rights after a draft ruling from the Supreme Court showed that the bench is poised to roll back Roe v. Wade. A number of tweets criticizing the congressman referenced the sex trafficking investigation that is examining the …

Florida Politics reports: If Republicans take the House Majority in 2022, expect former President Donald Trump to be in play for the Speaker position. That was the vow reaffirmed Saturday night at a Trump rally in Commerce, Georgia. Gaetz, who represents Florida’s 1st Congressional District, was the sole out-of-state politician on a stage that included Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and …

The Insider reports: Two private islands in the Caribbean owned by late financier Jeffrey Epstein are hitting the market for $125 million. The news was reported on Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal, which verified the listing with an attorney for the Epstein estate and the islands’ listing agents. Little St. James — believed to have been Epstein’s primary residence …

The Independent reports: Embattled Republican representative and self-described “Florida man” Matt Gaetz on Saturday lashed out at the federal agency reportedly investigating him for child sex trafficking, telling attendees at CPAC that the FBI and DOJ were “cheaters” on par with Russia’s Olympic team. “The intelligence committee should blow up FISA nd the Judiciary Committee should stop the DOJ from …