Woman Convicted Of Trafficking Girl Found On I-295: Officials

A Trenton woman has been convicted on charges of human trafficking and prostitution after her 17-year-old victim was found walking along I-295 in Lawrence Township in January 2018, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced.

Ashley Gardener, 31, was found guilty by a Mercer County jury of the following charges:

• First-degree conspiracy;
• First-degree human trafficking;
• Second-degree facilitating human trafficking;
• First-degree promoting the prostitution of a minor;
• First-degree promoting organized street crime; and
• Second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

She faces life in prison for the human trafficking charges, including 20 years of parole ineligibility, authorities said. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 6.
Breon Mickens, 28, of Trenton, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate human trafficking and faces a recommended sentence of five years in prison.

The victim was found walking down I-295 on Jan. 11, 2018, by New Jersey State Police. When she told them she had been forced into prostitution, being taken from hotel to hotel against her will and forced to engage in sexual acts with multiple men, police tracked down and arrested Gardener and Mickens soon after. The girl was forced to engage in sex acts with up to 15 men at a time, authorities said.

Gardener and Mickens were found to have placed sexually suggestive ads online that featured photos of herself and the victim. The ads offered adult entertainment and listed Gardener's phone number for clients to call, police said.

When a client arrived, Gardener would collect cash from the man and tell the 17-year-old victim what sex acts she had to perform, authorities said. It is alleged that Gardener sometimes would stay in the room, but other times she would leave.

Mickens acted as the "muscle" for the operation and would be inside the hotel room when clients arrived, according to authorities. He would leave after the clients paid. The victim never received any of the money from the clients. This went on for three days before the victim was finally able to escape.

Gardener was arrested at a hotel in Lawrence Township shortly after police first spoke with the victim. On Sunday, January 14, 2018, the New Jersey State Police Trafficking Central Unit, Fugitive Unit, Electronic Surveillance Unit, and the United States Marshal's Service New Jersey/New York Regional Fugitive Task Force-Trenton Division, located and arrested Mickens in Trenton.

Authorities urge anyone who suspects human trafficking to report it by calling the Division of Criminal Justice’s Human Trafficking Hotline 1-855-END-NJ-HT.