Minnesota man, girlfriend plead guilty to sex trafficking minor girls

MINNEAPOLIS — A Twin Cities man and his girlfriend both pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to trafficking minor girls for commercial sex.

These guilty pleas resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Minneapolis Police Department.

Phillip Dwayne Lloyd, aka Marcus Strong, aka Philip Dwayne Loyd, aka Dwayne Smith, aka Alfred Woods and aka ‘PC,' 44, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty to recruiting and sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl and for directing and producing a video of the minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Lloyd, who was indicted May 4, 2015, pleaded guilty Monday to sex trafficking a minor and producing child pornography.

Co-defendant Raquel Mone Belcher, 29, also of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to sex traffic minors.

Both defendants are expected to be sentenced May 16, 2016 before Chief Judge John R. Tunheim in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

Following an unrelated investigation, Mykel Lamar Harris, 25, of St. Paul, also pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to recruiting and sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl in late 2013 in St. Paul.  Harris was previously indicted Oct. 5, 2015. This separate case resulted from an investigation conducted by HSI and the St. Paul Police Department.

These investigations were conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1 (866) DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial (802) 872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY (802) 872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.