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Texas Woman Pleads Guilty in Louisiana to Obstruction of the Enforcement of Federal Criminal Sex Trafficking Statute, Faces Up to 25 Years

Louisiana – On October 11, 2022, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Dajanae Drake, age 29, from Missouri City, Texas, pleaded guilty on October 6, 2022, before United States District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon to a one-count bill of information charging her with obstruction, attempted obstruction, and interference with the enforcement of the federal criminal sex trafficking statute, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591(d).

Person 1, aged about sixteen years old, met Randi Lewis in early 2020, according to court filings. Lewis recruited Person 1, a female, to do commercial sex acts under his supervision, and she complied. Lewis and Person 1 met the juvenile victim, who was thirteen years old, in the Houston, Texas region around June 2021. Person 1 recruited the victim to conduct commercial sex acts, which would also be under Lewis’ supervision. Following that, Lewis arranged for himself, Person 1, and the underage victim to travel to New Orleans on a Greyhound bus in order for his co-conspirator and the victim to engage in commercial sex activities.

Person 1 and the underage victim did many commercial sex acts in the New Orleans area between June 22, 2021, and June 24, 2021. On June 24, 2021, police enforcement officers apprehended Person 1 and Lewis in a hotel in Terrytown, Louisiana. Person 1 and Lewis were then charged criminally and imprisoned.

Drake had multiple phone discussions with Person 1 and Lewis between June 25, 2021, and about November 28, 2021, including several conversations in which Drake deliberately encouraged Person 1 to file a false affidavit claiming that Lewis had no part in recruiting and trafficking the young victim. Drake did so in order to prevent the enforcement of criminal law, specifically Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591.

Drake faces up to 25 years in prison, a $250,000.00 fine, up to five years of supervised release following imprisonment, and a mandatory $100 special assessment charge per offense. The sentencing hearing before Judge Lemmon has been set for January 19, 2023.

This case was filed as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide campaign initiated by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to tackle the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood, led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, marshals federal, state, and local resources to find, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. To learn more about Project Safe Childhood, go to www.usdoj.gov/psc. For additional information on internet safety education, go to www.usdoj.gov/psc and select the “resources” option.

In this case, U.S. Attorney Evans lauded the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution is led by Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg.

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