USAO Eastern District of Wisconsin Recognizes National Human Trafficking Prevention Month
Brad D. Schimel, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that the Eastern District of Wisconsin joins the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in observing National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and reaffirming the administration’s commitment to combating all forms of human trafficking and protecting survivors.
“This Department of Justice is working tirelessly alongside our partners to dismantle human trafficking networks, help survivors, and protect vulnerable populations from being exploited,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. In the Eastern District of Wisconsin, those partners include fellow members of a law enforcement human trafficking task force headed by the FBI, as well as the multidisciplinary Wisconsin Human Trafficking Task Force, led by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation.
The investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases is both a national and a local district priority. Since the inception of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, dozens of traffickers have been prosecuted in the Eastern District of Wisconsin for sex trafficking and forced labor. District court judges in the Eastern District of Wisconsin have often observed at sentencing hearings that trafficking cases are among the most serious of offenses charged in federal court, and the sentences imposed reflect this.
One of the district’s more recent and significant sex trafficking trials was that of Samuel Spencer, a 52-year-old Milwaukee man convicted of trafficking numerous Milwaukee area women over a 15-year period by manipulating their cocaine and heroin dependencies, controlling them financially, and physically abusing them. Spencer was convicted at trial of all counts and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison. At sentencing, Chief Judge Pamela Pepper emphasized that Spencer had used some of the worst violence and coercive tactics that she had ever seen to deprive his victims of “their human agency.”
The United States Attorney’s Office continues to prosecute human traffickers, including as recently as earlier this month when a grand jury indicted a 35-year-old Union Grove man, Hector Duarte, with sex trafficking and interstate transportation for prostitution. Duarte is alleged to have used force, threats of force, and fraud to cause an adult victim to engage in commercial sex acts between approximately May 31, 2025, and June 25, 2025, in Wisconsin and Illinois. Duarte is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but upon conviction, he would face a mandatory minimum 15 years and up to life in prison. Duarte was ordered detained pending his trial.
U.S. Attorney Schimel observed, “human trafficking is the most insidious and difficult to uncover among the crimes we see. Coordination between federal, state and local law enforcement and social service providers is critical. Traffickers rob survivors of their very dignity by exploiting vulnerabilities like addiction, poverty, and the basic need for human connection. They often commit their crimes in plain sight right before our eyes, because survivors are terrified of seeking help based upon the extreme violence and psychological manipulation to which they are subjected. Each of us has a responsibility to educate ourselves about the threat, to protect those at risk of victimization, and to report known or suspected trafficking for investigation and intervention.” The National Human Trafficking Hotline number for tips and requests for assistance is 888-373-7888.
This month, DOJ has designated heightened resources to fight and raise awareness about human trafficking. One of DOJ’s current nationwide initiatives, designed to assist in the financial recovery of sex trafficking survivors, is the Backpage Remission Program. This program allows victims who were advertised on commercial sex advertisement sites Backpage.com and CityXGuide.com, which were seized and shuttered by DOJ in 2018 and 2020 respectively, to make claims for compensation. More information can be found here
. Petition forms are due by March 31.
The DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs is also soliciting grant applications to help communities combat human trafficking and to serve adults and children who have been victimized. Funding opportunities currently available are focused on housing assistance, integrated services for minor victims, prevention of the trafficking of girls, supporting survivor engagement in anti-trafficking programming, enhanced collaborative model task forces, improving outcomes for child and youth victims, and general trafficking victim services. More information can be found at here.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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