Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a 120-year prison sentence this week for a Hillsborough County man convicted of human trafficking.
Marquett James, 50, was convicted of two counts of human trafficking, one count of racketeering, and one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering following a jury trial in November 2025.
According to the attorney general, James targeted women from 2012 to 2020 by starting romantic relationships with the victims before coercing them into commercial sex acts, including prostitution. James would also seize the profits and subject the women to physical, sexual, and psychological abuse.
On one occasion, James threatened to release pornographic material of a victim to maintain control. Investigators believe James profited in the hundreds of thousands from each victim, with one victim becoming homeless as a result of the abuse.
“In a case that the Biden DOJ refused to prosecute, our Office of Statewide Prosecution worked with HSI under the Trump administration to deliver a sentence that ensures this offender will never have the opportunity to exploit another victim,” Uthmeier said in a release. "Crimes of this nature cause life-long harm and must be met with punishments that reflect their severity. In Florida, there will be no leniency for sexual predators and human traffickers.”
Uthmeier has made combating human trafficking a top priority since becoming attorney general in February 2025.
In December 2025, Uthmeier announced the arrest of a Florida man in Virginia on human trafficking charges after allegedly manipulating and transporting a woman from Florida to Mississippi while engaging in sexual activity, as well as allegedly supplying the woman with drugs and threatening her with not allowing her to see her son in an effort to control her.
Uthmeier also charged 230 suspects, including illegal aliens from Venezuela, Mexico, and Honduras, in a 7-day human trafficking operation out of Polk County last September.
