Our Criminal Defense Firm Has A Team Of Former County Prosecutors & Certified Criminal Trial Lawyers To Mount A Potent Defense to Your Human Trafficking Charge
A significant complication to promoting prostitution is a human trafficking offense. This criminal charge is extreme since it can result in a first-degree crime and life imprisonment. Selecting a lawyer that has the ability to minimize or even eliminate this type of New Jersey sex case is crucial if you want to maintain your freedom. Attorneys who are highly experienced in defending human trafficking and related charges like money laundering are going to provide the greatest opportunity for a favorable outcome.
We are the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall, a ten attorney law firm that specializes in criminal defense. Our team, which is comprised of former county prosecutors and public defenders, has over 200 years of combined experience handling human trafficking charges at the New Jersey Superior Court. If you or a loved one was arrested for human trafficking anywhere in NJ, an attorney at our office has the skills to protect you against a conviction. Contact our office for a free consultation now at 1-877-534-7338.
First-Degree Crime Human Trafficking
An individual faces a first-degree crime under N.J.S.A. 2C:13-8 if they are convicted for engaging in one of three (3) forms of human trafficking: (1) holding, recruiting, luring, enticing, harboring or transporting individuals so that they can engage in sex; (2) serving in the role of organizer, supervisor, financier or manager of a sex enterprise; and (3) causing a child to engage in sexual activity. The headings below briefly discuss the important aspects of a first-degree crime for human trafficking. We encourage you to reach out to our New Jersey criminal defense firm to speak to an attorney about more specific questions or to discuss representation of you or a loved one.
Holding, Recruiting, Luring, Enticing, Harboring or Transporting Individuals To Engage in Providing Sex
These activities result in a first-degree crime under the human trafficking law if they are accomplished as the result of: (1) threatening serious bodily harm or physical restraint; (2) a scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause the victim to believe they will suffer serious bodily harm or physical restraint; (3) criminal coercion; (4) destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing any passport, immigration-related document or personal identifying documents; (5) abuse or threatened abuse of the law or legal process; (6) fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation; or (7) by facilitating access to drug/CDS.
An Organizer, Supervisor, Financier or Manager of a Sex Enterprise
When an individual serves in any of these roles and receives something of value for participation, they are exposed to a first-degree crime under 2C:13-8.
Causing A Child To Engage In Sexual Activity
This category of first-degree human trafficking requires that the actor “knowingly holds, recruits, lures, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains, by any means, a child under 18 years of age, to engage in sexual activity.”
Penalties for First-Degree Human Trafficking
An individual is normally exposed to 10-20 years in prison for a first-degree crime but the situation is a little different in a New Jersey human trafficking case. The term of imprisonment must be set at 20 years without any opportunity for parole (i.e. mandatory minimum sentence) or a term between 20 years and a life sentence with 20 years of parole ineligibility. A maximum fine of $200,000 also applies.
Second-Degree Human Trafficking
An individual can also be charged with a second-degree crime for human trafficking. This grade of offense arises out of N.J.S.A. 2C:13-9 and applies where someone provides “services, resources, or assistance with the knowledge that the services, resources, or assistance are intended to be used in furtherance of the commission of the crime of human trafficking.” A person is also guilty of this second-degree crime if he procures or attempts to procure a person to engage in sexual activity or to provide labor or services, whether for himself or another person, knowing that the person provided or to be provided was a victim of human trafficking, or under circumstances in which a reasonable person would conclude that there was a substantial likelihood that the person was a victim of human trafficking.
Penalties for Second-Degree Human Trafficking
Similar to the first-degree pedigree of human trafficking, New Jersey Law imposes enhanced consequences for a second-degree crime as well. While the standard second-degree penalty of 5-10 years applies to this grade of human trafficking, a period of parole eligibility equal to one-third of the sentence imposed or 3 years, whichever is greater must be imposed. The fine is up to $150,000.
Human Trafficking Lawyers in New Jersey
An arrest for human trafficking almost always results in pretrial detention. Hiring a skilled lawyer can minimize not only the period you are in custody, but also the risk that you will be convicted and end up in prison. The attorneys at our firm, the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall, have considerable experience representing clients charged with human trafficking and other New Jersey prostitution-related offenses. Advanced knowledge and proficiency in defending this offense can prove invaluable and that is precisely what the lawyers on our staff can offer you. To speak to an attorney anytime 24/7, call 1-877-534-7338.
Related Human Trafficking Resources
Sex Crimes Lawyers in New Jersey
NJ Human Trafficking Task Force
Attorney General Directive on Human Trafficking
Frequently Asked Human Trafficking Questions
Human Trafficking
What Is “Criminal Coercion” Of A Person Under New Jersey Law?
A person commits the crime of human trafficking if he knowingly holds/recruits/lures/entices/harbors/transports/provides/obtains, by any means, another, to engage in sexual activity or to provide labor or services by criminal coercion. A defendant “criminally coerces” another person if the defendant threatened to:
- inflict bodily injury on anyone or commit any other offense; or
- accuse anyone of an offense; or
- expose any secret which would tend to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule, or to impair that person’s credit or business reputation; or
- take or withhold action as an official, or cause an official to take or withhold action; or
- bring about or continue a strike, boycott, or other collective action; or
- testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information related to another’s legal claim or defense; or
- perform any other act which would not in itself substantially benefit the defendant but which is calculated to substantially harm another person related to that person’s health, safety, business, calling, career, financial condition, reputation, or personal relationships and the defendant did so purposely to unlawfully restrict the person’s freedom of action to engage or refrain from engaging in the conduct in question.
Is A Victim Of Human Trafficking Entitled To Restitution?
A New Jersey court may order any person convicted under the New Jersey human trafficking statute, in addition to any other disposition, to make restitution to any victim of the crime of human trafficking. This award of restitution is the greater of:
(1) the gross income or value to the defendant of the victim’s labor or services; or
(2) the value of the victim’s labor or services as determined by applicable New Jersey law.
How Is New Jersey Combating Human Trafficking?
The U.S., including New Jersey, has seen an increase in human trafficking crimes, especially in the last few years. As a result, New Jersey enacted the Human Trafficking Prevention, Protection, and Treatment Act in 2013 (the “2013 Act”). This legislation created a commission and task force within New Jersey’s Division of Criminal Justice, Department of Law and Public Safety to address human trafficking issues by providing victim assistance and a system for easily reporting suspected human trafficking activity. The 2013 Act also established criminal and civil liability for anyone engaging in this form of illicit sexually based activity in New Jersey.
To “disrupt and interdict this activity,” the State of New Jersey Human Trafficking Task Force strives to achieve the following as its primary goals:
- Train law enforcement in methods of identifying victims and signs of human trafficking
- Coordinate efforts across New Jersey in providing services to victims of human trafficking
- Increase the successful prosecution of those persons guilty of human trafficking
Can A Victim of Human Trafficking Also Be Charged With Human Trafficking?
It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for a violation that, during the time of the alleged commission of the offense of human trafficking, the defendant was a victim of human trafficking. What this means is that a person being trafficked cannot be convicted of trafficking another person within the same scheme or enterprise.
