Cook County State’s Attorney secures significant sentence in first ever Human Trafficking Conviction
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The organizer of a sex ring who forced women to prostitute themselves for money was sentenced to 18 years in prison in Cook County’s first conviction in a human trafficking case, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced.
Troy Bonaparte, 46, was convicted by a jury in March of Involuntary Servitude, Trafficking in Persons for Forced Labor or Services, and Pandering.
Bonaparte was arrested on August 8, 2010 by undercover investigators in an Elk Grove Village motel room, where he was found with money and computer equipment used to run the prostitution ring. Bonaparte’s conviction was the result of efforts by State’s Attorney Alvarez’s new Human Trafficking Initiative Unit, which worked in cooperation in this case with Cook County Sheriff’s Police.
“Today’s sentence represents a significant achievement in our new efforts to investigate and prosecute the crime of human trafficking, which is occurring in our own backyard,†said Alvarez.
Under the new initiative, Cook County prosecutors work with law enforcement partners at the federal, state and local level on long term investigations and assist social service providers with securing services for women and children who are victims of human trafficking.
According to prosecutors, Bonaparte, who went by the street name, “Magnificentâ€, rented motel rooms at various locations in the city and surrounding suburbs, where women would service up to 25 customers per day. Bonaparte kept all of the money the women earned and threatened to beat or kill them if they didn’t comply with his demands to perform the sex acts.
Cook County Judge William Lacy sentenced Bonaparte to the 18 year prison sentence during a court hearing.
State’s Attorney Alvarez thanked investigators and Assistant State’s Attorneys Beth Pfeiffer and Matthew Thrun of the Human Trafficking Initiative Unit for their handling of the case. She also thanked the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Vice Unit for their assistance.
