Federal jury finds NM man guilty of sex trafficking

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A federal jury on Friday returned a verdict finding a local man guilty of sex trafficking, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Shane Roach, 27, was arrested July 1, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with sex trafficking.  Roach subsequently was indicted and charged with using force, threats and coercion to force a victim to engage in commercial sex acts.  The indictment alleged that Roach committed the offense between May and June 2015 in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

Roach’s trial on the sex trafficking charge began Tuesday and concluded Friday when the jury returned a guilty verdict against Roach. 

The victim, who testified at trial, told the jury that in early 2015 she was a heroin addict who turned to prostitution to support her heroin habit.  The victim met Roach in late April 2015, and turned to him for help shortly thereafter when she fell on hard times.  For the next month and a half, Roach was the victim’s pimp and forced her to engage in prostitution. The victim said that, during that time, Roach forced her to engage in sex with men four or five times per day. And Roach kept all her earnings, amounting to $400 to $500 per day.

The victim also testified that Roach beat her on a number of occasions, brandished a firearm at her, and threatened to harm her family if she left him.  During the month and a half during which she was sex trafficked by Roach, the victim had only three or four days off.

An Albuquerque Police Department detective testified that on May 27, 2015, while acting in an undercover capacity, he arranged to meet the victim at an Albuquerque-area hotel after getting her contact information from an online prostitution ad.

The meeting was brief because the victim recognized the detective’s partner as a police officer, who was outside, and told the undercover officer that there were officers outside.  The undercover officer testified that on June 10, 2015, local police received a call for help from the victim and he was one of the officers who responded.  During that meeting, the victim told police officers that Roach was sex trafficking her. The investigation leading to Roach’s conviction began that day.

Roach testified in his own defense.  While generally acknowledging that he was the victim’s pimp, Roach denied using threats of force or coercion to force to the victim to engage in commercial sex acts.

The jury deliberated about three hours before returning its guilty verdict.

The judge ordered Roach to surrender himself to the U.S. Marshals Service by 3 p.m. Oct. 7. Roach is to be detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

At sentencing, Roach faces a statutory mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Norman Cairns and Kimberly A. Brawley, District of New Mexico, are prosecuting this case.