Three more people have pleaded guilty in federal court in connection with a sex-trafficking enterprise spearheaded by a Dublin man.
Lantesia Lanier, 41, of Dublin, and Jackie Fields, 47, of Cochran, each pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of misprision, which is deliberate concealment of one's knowledge of a felony, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Charles E. Peeler for the Middle District of Georgia.
Lanier and Fields misled law enforcement about their knowledge of the enterprise, the release said.
Curtis Hall, 37, of East Dublin, also pleaded guilty Thursday to interstate travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise.
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Jessie Lee Hall, who previously pleaded guilty, spearheaded the criminal operation — pimping out women at hotels throughout Middle Georgia, including Macon.
Jessie Hall acted as a pimp for the women, including one he met through the internet, according to the plea agreement. This first victim was encountered by law enforcement at a Macon hotel. Hall convinced her to travel from Ohio and work as a prostitute for him in Georgia, the release said.
During the investigation, the Bibb County Sheriff s Office received information that Jessie Hall was trafficking other women for sex. All three women told authorities that a combination of threats of force, fraud or coercion had been used by Jessie Hall to cause them to perform commercial sex acts, the release said.
The women also told authorities that Curtis Hall, Lanier and Fields had knowledge of the operation and participated in it to varying degrees, according to the release.
Sentencing is pending.
Jessie Hall is facing up to life imprisonment. Curtis Hall is facing a maximum of five years imprisonment, and Fields and Lanier are facing a maximum of three years in prison. All face stiff fines.
“Human trafficking is a crime that literally trades in the bodies and souls of its victims,” Peeler said in the release.
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