Georgia- A 32-year-old Stone Mountain man who posed as a talent agent is heading to federal prison for tricking young women into signing modeling contracts before forcing them to engage in prostitution and have sex with him.

Jimmy Lee Jones, also known as Mike Spade, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking and transporting young women across state lines for purposes of prostitution. Jones lured about a half-dozen young woman or girls into his modeling scheme between 2000 and 2005, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Approaching the victims at colleges, stores, music events and nightclubs, he claimed to be a successful agent for companies like “Candy Girl Casting” and “Dime Piece Entertainment.”

Jones promised the women legitimate modeling jobs for magazines and music videos and signed five of them to year-long contracts, each of which paid him $300 to $450 a week.

He then forced the victims into prostitution so they could pay their debts to him.

After two victims reported Jones to Atlanta police, one victim described him as a man whose life revolved around exploiting young women. Another said she considered suicide to get away from him.

After his prison term, Jones will be on supervised release for three years. He also was ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution to six victims.

Here’s the official US Government press release on the case:

Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights; David E. Nahmias, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia; Gregory Jones, FBI Special Agent in Charge; and Richard Pennington, Chief, Atlanta Police Department (APD), today announced that Jimmie Lee Jones, also known as “Mike Spade,” 32, of Stone Mountain, Ga., was sentenced to serve 15 years on federal charges of conspiring to engage in sex trafficking and transporting young women across state lines for purposes of prostitution.

Jimmie Jones’ 15-year prison sentence will be followed by three years
of supervised release. Jones was also ordered to pay restitution in the
amount of $60,600 to six victims.

“This case shows that human trafficking can occur anytime, anywhere,
and against any vulnerable victim, including U.S. citizens and college
students,” said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for
the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice
is committed to rescuing victims of human trafficking and ensuring that
those who commit these crimes are brought to justice.”

“Defendant Jones’ sentence sends a clear message that those who traffic
in people will be harshly punished,” said U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias.
“Defendant Jones preyed on numerous young American women who fell for his
fraudulent ‘modeling’ scheme, signed contracts in which they owed the
defendant money, then were forced and coerced into prostitution to pay back
the contracts. The case broke when two victims were brave enough to come
forward and report Jones’ crimes to APD, whose human trafficking task force
worked closely with the FBI in bringing justice to the victims.”

According to court documents, from 2000-2005, Jones conspired to force
six victims, identified only by initials, to engage in commercial sex acts
through force, fraud and coercion. Additionally, Jones caused two juvenile
victims to engage in commercial sex acts, knowing that the victims had not
reached the age of 18 years. Jones lured and recruited the minor and adult
victims into prostitution with promises of legitimate modeling or exotic
dancing work and used physical violence, threats of violence, deception,
and other forms of coercion to compel the victims to work as prostitutes.
Jones pled guilty just after his trial began in August 2007.

Numerous victims were on hand for the sentencing and testified that
Jones caused them to engage in sex acts, including oral sex and vaginal
intercourse, with himself and others, by striking them and threatening to
beat them. One victim submitted her statement to the court, outlining the
abuse she suffered at the hands of Jones and stating that Jones was “a
cruel and manipulative man whose life revolved around the sexual,
emotional, physical and psychological exploitation of young women.” She
stated that her life was devastated and that she even considered suicide on
more than one occasion to escape Jones’ brutality.

Human trafficking prosecutions such as this one are a top priority of
the Department of Justice. In the last seven fiscal years, the Civil Rights
Division, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, has increased by
nearly seven-fold the number of human trafficking cases filed in court as
compared to the previous seven fiscal years. In FY 2007, the Department
obtained a record number of convictions in human trafficking prosecutions.

The case was investigated by special agents of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and officers of the Atlanta Police Department, Human
Trafficking Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Civil Rights Division
Trial Attorney Karima Maloney and Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Coppedge.