9 sex traffickers sentenced in Charleston federal court for crimes throughout southeastern U.S.

Nine men were sentenced in Charleston federal court for their roles in a conspiracy to force underage girls into sex trafficking, according to U.S. Attorney Beth Drake.

The evidence established that the defense preyed on more than 100 female victims, many minors, forced them to have sex with many "Johns" a night from 2014 through the summer of 2016, according to Drake.

The tactics used by the men included physical beatings, brandings, threats and other psychological manipulation,

Tremel Black, 33, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Robert Black,47, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Desmond Singletary, 32, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, Kerry Taylor, 23, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, Ryan Turner 25, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Da'Shun Curry, 25, was sentenced to 9 years in prison, Howard Parker,25, was sentenced to 6 years in prison and Damon Jackson, has been convicted but not sentenced yet.

"These significant sentencings should serve as a grave warning that HSI special agents and our law enforcement partners, like the North Charleston Police Department, will use our full investigative resources to holding criminals accountable," Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Shawn Caines said in a statement.

Bakari McMillan, 25 and Corey Miller, 44, were convicted in March 2017. McMillan was sentenced to 40 years in prison for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and trafficking of a minor for sex involving force, fraud and coercion. Miller was sentenced to 20 years on the same charges.

McMillan was from Columbia while Miller was from Orangeburg. Tremel Black and Robert Black were from New York, Singletary was from Florence, while Taylor, Turner, Curry and Parker were all from Columbia.

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