Minneapolis man sentenced to 15 years for sex trafficking

For two months, "Santana" made the girl perform sexual acts with other men for money. He even took her from Minneapolis to Chicago to sell the teenager to "johns" there.

On Thursday, a federal judge turned those two months of human trafficking into 15 years behind bars for Byronte Juwann Reed, 28.

Reed, whose nickname was Santana, admitted that he met the girl in June 2008 and quickly recruited her to perform sex for money. From June through July 2008, the girl lived with Reed and others and worked in the commercial sex trade.

Reed admitted that he used force to make the girl do what he wanted.

U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson sentenced Reed to 180 months in federal prison. He had pleaded guilty in October to a single count of sex trafficking of a minor.

Reed was indicted in August 2009 and was supposed to go on trial in February, but fled.

Agents from the FBI's New Orleans field office tracked Reed to a Baton Rouge townhouse, where he surrendered after a 3 1/2-hour standoff.

"This investigation was the result of the strong, ongoing partnerships developed by the St. Paul Police Department's Gerald D. Vick Human Trafficking Task Force," St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith said after Thursday's sentencing. "Working closely with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office, the task force and its partners were able to successfully prosecute this individual."

Smith said the Minneapolis Police Department and the Chicago Police Department assisted in the case.

It is another example of the Vick Task Force's work locally to combat human trafficking. Federal officials in Nashville last month announced the indictment of 29 people in connection to an alleged human trafficking ring involving members of Somali street gangs. Most of the suspects and all four of the alleged victims are from the Twin Cities area -- although the alleged crimes took place in Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee and elsewhere.

The task force is made up of investigators from the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Minneapolis and St. Paul police and the Hennepin and Ramsey county sheriff's offices.

An estimated 15,000 to 18,000 people are believed to be trafficked into the United States each year. It is not known how many children, women and men are victims of trafficking in Minnesota.