South Dakota man sentenced to 3 life terms in prison for sex trafficking

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A Sioux Falls man was sentenced in federal court Thursday to three life terms in federal prison for sex trafficking and sex trafficking children.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of the FBI, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office, Sioux Falls Police Department, and the Franklin County (Illinois) Police Department.

Carl Campbell, 37, was sentenced after his conviction on the following charges:

• life in prison on one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion,
• life in prison on each of two counts of sex trafficking a child,
• 20 years in prison on one count of interstate transportation for prostitution, and
• 20 years in prison on one count of obstruction of sex trafficking enforcement.

These sentences are all to run concurrently. Campbell was also ordered to pay a $500 assessment to the Federal Crime Victim's Fund.

Campbell was indicted by a superseding indictment issued by a federal grand jury Nov. 6, 2012, and found guilty of all counts by a federal jury Feb. 8.

Campbell operated a sex trafficking ring in Sioux Falls from about mid-2011 until late June 2012. His victims included various local women and underage girls. He advertised the victims on Backpage.com and drove them to various hotels and motels to commit commercial sex acts, for which he collected the proceeds.

Evidence presented during his trial showed he transported at least one victim to Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois to engage in prostitution. He also committed multiple assaults against this victim over the course of eight months. And he sent multiple letters to her after his arrest to get her to recant her statements to law enforcement authorities.

Campbell was sentenced to the statutory maximum prison sentence for all five counts. Following sentencing, Campbell was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service.