Man Receives Life Sentence for Sex Trafficking of Minors

According to a press release from the United States Department of Justice, a man was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Monday for transporting minors across state lines to engage in prostitution. The man had a previous conviction for child exploitation.

Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney George S. Cardona of the Central District of California announced the Nevada man's sentence on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Stephen G. Larson of the Central District of California sentenced Juan Rico Doss of Nevada on Monday. The life in prison without parole sentence was mandatory due to the nature of the crime. The 18 U.S.C. Section 3559(e) statute mandates require life in prison sentences for those that have repeat offenses of sex crimes against children. Doss' previous conviction of pandering minors for purposes of prostitution was ruled eligible as a prior offense under the statute on Nov. 1, 2006.

Authorities maintain that Doss conspired with his wife, Jacquay Quinn Ford, to transport two female minors across state lines to engage in prostitution. The girls were aged 14 and 16; authorities claim Doss recruited and transported the 16 year old girl by force. The couple transported and made the girls work as prostitutes in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Oakland, and San Francisco.

Ford was recently sentenced to 15 months in prison for conspiracy after working with authorities and testifying against her husband.

The United States Justice Department praised Doss' sentence. Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher had this to say regarding the case: "Juan Rico Doss stole the freedom of his young female victims when he recruited them and transported them across state lines for prostitution, sometimes through the use of force. Now he will spend the rest of his life in prison. The life sentence in this case is the result of the cooperative effort of federal prosecutors, the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department, and is part of our ongoing effort to prevent and prosecute the sexual exploitation of child victims."

Doss faced charges of witness tampering in addition to his other offenses, after a mistrial was declared in his first trial when his 14 year old victim refused to testify against him. Authorities later discovered that Doss had coerced the girl in to not testifying. Doss is one of the first people in the United States to receive a mandatory life sentence under the statute.

Sources:
The United States Justice Department