Woman Forced To Sell Her Body By Sex Trafficker Who Now Faces 15 Years To Life In Prison

LOS ANGELES, CA — A former Riverside County resident was found guilty by a jury Friday of forcing a woman into prostitution.

Elias Abdul Shabazz, 34, formerly of Perris, was found guilty of one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. He has been in federal custody since May 2025.

According to evidence presented at a five-day trial, Shabazz wooed the woman and led her to believe that they were engaged in a romantic relationship. But he soon turned physically and sexually violent, demanding that she engage in commercial sex acts.

Shabazz's criminal conduct occurred from May 2021 to October 2021, federal prosecutors alleged.

Shabazz was violent with the woman. He carried a handgun and used it on occasion to pistol whip the victim. He also fired the gun at her feet when threatening to kill her, prosecutors alleged.

At trial, the woman said Shabazz introduced her to prostitution and, using intimidation, demanded she meet a daily sex-acts profit quota. Prosecutors said he forced her to work on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, a neighborhood known for prostitution.

According to prosecutors, Shabazz confiscated the woman’s identification, social security card, and birth certificate. He looked through her phone constantly to keep her from communicating with family and friends. He also introduced her to addictive narcotics and controlled every aspect of her life, including when she ate, slept, and showered.

“Elias Shabazz preyed on a vulnerable victim using physical and sexual violence and cruel psychological coercion to compel commercial sex acts for his own profit,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr., scheduled an October 6 sentencing hearing, at which time Shabazz will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.