A federal jury convicted a Florida Latin King gang member of two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; obstruction of sex trafficking enforcement, and use of interstate facilities in aid of racketeering.
The convictions followed a seven-day jury trial in front of Chief District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga in Miami.
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Jason Wagner, aka “King Ace,” 41, of Miami, Florida, forced several women to engage in commercial sex since as early as 2003. To make his adult and underaged victims engage in commercial sex, Wagner locked them in his apartments, took their personal identification documents, subjected them to violence and threats of violence, and provided them with drugs.
Police first became aware of Wagner when a woman alerted a good Samaritan that she was being held captive in Wagner’s house.
Wagner repeatedly urged the woman to drop the charges and decline to testify in court following his arrest in this case.
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His sentencing date is set for January 12, 2024, in Miami at 8:30 a.m. Wagner can be imprisoned for life.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe announced the guilty verdict for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami, and Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) Interim Director Stephanie V. Daniels.
The South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force, the MDPD’s Human Trafficking Squad, and HSI Miami all looked into the case. Assistant U.S. attorneys Lacee Elizabeth Monk and Jessica Kahn Obenauf prosecuted it.
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