2 Sex Trafficking Convictions Returned By DC Jury For 2019 Crimes

WASHINGTON, DC — A jury found Willis Lewis, 48, and Brittany Jones, 32, guilty on Monday on federal charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, sex trafficking of minors, and related offenses, in connection with the trafficking of two teenage girls in 2019, according to court documents.

Between April and May 2019, Jones and two co-conspirators, who have already pleaded guilty, brought two girls, one 15 and the other 17, to Lewis for the purposes of sex trafficking, according to court documents. Once the victims were in Lewis' custody, he and another co-conspirator set up two "dates" a night for each of the victims for nearly two weeks, authorities say.

Lewis kept the money the victims made from their "dates" and used a loyalty contract, firearm, and violence against the third co-conspirator in front of the victims in order to coerce them to participate in commercial sex for profit, according to court documents.

Police became involved in the investigation when the two victims escaped from a facility in Virginia and the facility filed a missing person's report, according to police. Lewis and Jones were arrested on July 30, 2019.

During the trial, the co-conspirators testified against Lewis and Jones. Authorities used independent evidence, including cellphone location data and material from digital devices, to corroborate their testimony, according to court records.

Lewis, who is from Oxon Hill, Maryland, and Jones, of Suitland, Maryland, will remain in custody until their scheduled sentencing on Sept. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.