Miami Man Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For Sex Trafficking

MIAMI, FL — A 38-year-old Miami man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison after admitting that he sex trafficked a 16-year-old girl who was homeless and addicted to drugs.

Jim Lundi was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr to be placed on supervised release for another 25 years following his release from prison and ordered him to register as a sex offender

The sentence was announced Friday by U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan in Miami, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo Ramirez.

Federal prosecutors said Lundi met the girl in November 2017 and began living with her in an abandoned home in Miami.

"Shortly thereafter, the defendant discussed going into 'business' with the victim," prosecutors said. "The defendant taught the victim how to use websites such as Backpage to advertise sex for money. He took nude photographs of the victim and then posted them on various websites including Backpage and listed his phone number in the advertisements as the method of contact."

Prosecutors said Lundi set up dates for the girl and communicated with potential clients.

"Before meeting with a customer, the defendant often told the victim, 'condoms, money, don’t play games.'" prosecutors said. "He set the prices for the commercial sex acts and kept all of the money."The defendant regularly beat the victim for not making enough money from commercial sex acts or for trying to keep some of the money that she had earned."

Prosecutors said Lundi "frequently" only gave the victim small amounts of drugs at a time, knowing that she had a strong addiction.

"The victim broke away from the defendant and ran into a nearby restaurant — scraped, battered, and without pants," prosecutors said. A good Samaritan called the police and the victim was transported to a hospital."

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. For more information, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Kahn Obenauf and Rilwan Adeduntan.

To report suspected human trafficking or to obtain resources for victims, call 888-373-7888; text “BeFree” to 233733, or live chat at HumanTraffickingHotline.org.