Super Bowl Weekend Sex Trafficking Sting Nets 75 Arrests

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — "Crime Doesn't Pay" is more than a law enforcement motto, and authorities in Hillsborough County proved it during Super Bowl weekend.

Through a sex trafficking sting called Operation Game Over, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department arrested 75 people over the weekend, including men suspected of trafficking a 17-year-old victim.

In a Thursday afternoon news conference, Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister said suspects arrested during the sting range from 19 to 73 years of age.

"When the NFL announced nearly two years ago that Tampa was awarded Super Bowl LV, we knew then that for some, our beautiful Tampa would become a hot spot for human trafficking," Chronister said. "Our undercover detectives focused on hotels and motels, online chat rooms, adult entertainment establishments, massage parlors and street level solicitations, which resulted in a record number of arrests."

Among the arrests were Alvin Lynch Jr, 34, and Scott Fitzgerald, 27, who have both been charged with human trafficking for commercial sexual activity of a victim less than 18 years old, along with a litany of other charges including trafficking in fentanyl.

Chronister said undercover detectives made contact with a trafficking victim through an online advertisement and asked her to meet them at a hotel. When she arrived, she was accompanied by Fitzgerald and Lynch, a 20-time convicted felon.

The men were arrested, and the victim told authorities about three additional victims, who were rescued. Among the victims was a 17-year-old girl, Chronister said.

Juan Cano Jr. also faces a charge of human trafficking for commercial sexual activity of a victim less than 18 years old.

A detective acting undercover as a human trafficker interacted with Cano online. The suspect and detective struck a deal, and Cano offered to pay $150 to have sexual contact with a person he believed to be a teenage human trafficking victim, authorities said.

Chronister said five adult women were rescued from human traffickers over the weekend and placed with Selah Freedom, a sex trafficking awareness organization, to receive counseling and support services.

A 17-year-old victim was taken to the Department of Children and Family to receive support.

"We will remain vigilant to rescue individuals from the cruel and miserable underworld of human trafficking and pursue those who propagate this despicable practice," Chronister said. "Individuals who buy sex, whether they know it or not, may be exploiting a human trafficking victim for their own pleasure, and those who offer sexual services may be doing it against their own will. Arrest may be their only chance at freedom."