SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Sacramento man was charged with trafficking, pimping, and pandering twin sisters in Los Angeles and Orange County.

Jefferson is accused of being a human trafficker/pimp who exploits women for financial gain. With the rise in popularity of social media and ease of meeting people on the Internet, many pimps and human traffickers utilize a variety of social media to locate potential victims. Pimps often establish rigid rules that their victims are expected to follow including requiring victims to speak only when spoken to, address the pimp as “Sir” or “Daddy,” assigning seats in the car based on “rank,” and setting daily quotas that the victims are expected to fulfill. The victims are required to turn over all payment they receive for sex acts from sex purchasers to their pimp. Failure to follow these rules can result in deprivation of food and/or physical and/or emotional abuse.

Circumstances of the Case

• In October 2017, Jefferson is accused of meeting 18-year-old Jane Doe 2 online and arranging for the victim to solicit commercial sex for his benefit in areas of Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Ventura counties known for prostitution.
• Between Oct. 21, 2017, and Dec. 8, 2017, the defendant is accused of keeping all of the money Jane Doe 2 received from sex purchasers for himself, making the victim work 24 hours a day, and withholding food until she reached quotas he set.
• In late November 2017, Jefferson is accused of trafficking, pimping, and pandering the victim along with her twin sister Jane Doe 1.
• On Dec. 8, 2017, Jane Doe 2 attempted to leave the defendant. Jefferson is accused of trying to prevent the victim from leaving by pulling her hair, choking her, and punching her while they were together in a vehicle.
• The defendant is accused of threatening to kill Jane Doe 1's baby if she tried to leave with her sister.
• The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) contacted the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF) based on online advertisements Jefferson is accused of posting that depicted Jane Doe 1 soliciting commercial sex in Orange County.
• On Dec. 9, 2017, OCHTTF located Jane Doe 1 at a motel where the defendant is accused of booking a room for the victim to meet with sex purchasers.
• Jefferson was arrested at the hotel by OCHTTF, who investigated this case in Orange County, and charged the defendant on Dec. 12, 2017, with trafficking, pimping, pandering, and threatening Jane Doe 1.
• The crimes against Jane Doe 2 were investigated by LAPD and OCHTTF, and the Orange County District Attorney's Office (OCDA) charged the defendant with additional counts on Dec. 15, 2017.

The OCDA was a cosponsor for the law that allows us to charge Jefferson for crimes committed in California within and outside of Orange County, California Penal Code section 784.7(c), which states in part:

• If more than one violation of Section 236.1, 266h, or 266i occurs in more than one jurisdictional territory, the jurisdiction of any of those offenses, and for any offenses properly joinable with that offense, is in any jurisdiction where at least one of the offenses occurred, subject to a hearing pursuant to Section 954, within the jurisdiction of the proposed trial.
• At the Section 954 hearing, the prosecution shall present written evidence that all district attorneys in counties with jurisdiction of the offenses agree to the venue.
• In determining whether all counts in the complaint should be joined in one county for prosecution, the court shall consider the location and complexity of the likely evidence, where the majority of the offenses occurred, the rights of the defendant and the people, and the convenience of, or hardship to, the victim or victims and witnesses.

Members of the OCHTTF and the OCDA work proactively to protect women and minors from falling victim to commercial sexual exploitation. This case was investigated by OCHTTF, a partnership between Anaheim Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Costa Mesa Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Huntington Beach Police Department, Irvine Police Department, OCDA, Orange County Sheriff's Department, Santa Ana Police Department, and community and non-profit partners.

Prosecutor: Deputy District Attorney Juliet Oliver, HEAT Unit

Proposition 35 and HEAT

To read more about California's anti-human trafficking Proposition 35 (Prop 35) and the OCDA's Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, please visit www.orangecountyda.org and select Human Trafficking Information from the Media Center drop down menu.

Orange County District Attorney / Case # 17CF3112 / December 15, 2017