Jaboree Williams was a pimp and drug dealer who brutally abused and psychologically tortured his victims. And thanks to the joint efforts of the FBI and local law enforcement, he will spend the next 30 years in federal prison.
“He preyed on vulnerable women who were having difficult times in their lives,” said Special Agent Maria Miller, who investigated the case out of the FBI’s Milwaukee Division as part of the office’s Human Trafficking Task Force. “He started by being more of a ‘Romeo’ pimp—he would act like a boyfriend and make them think they were doing this for their future as a couple.”
However, shortly after the women began working for Williams, he would take all or nearly all of their earnings, beat them, and limit their access to food. Williams also took the women’s identification, cell phones, and money to make it difficult for them to escape. When one victim tried to leave, he severely beat her with a belt and threatened to kill her children. With another, he beat her beloved dog to keep her under his control.
The investigation began in 2015 when a woman contacted the Racine Police Department saying she could not find her sister, whose photo appeared on a prostitution website. The police department collaborated with the FBI’s Wisconsin Human Trafficking Task Force to begin an investigation.
Racine Police Department Investigator Neal Lofy, who works human trafficking cases for his department and also serves on the local FBI task force, explained the importance of taking a collaborative approach in human trafficking cases and using the FBI’s available resources, such as administrative subpoenas of prostitution websites.
“Trafficking is a very transient crime; there’s a lot of movement between jurisdictions,” Lofy said. “Partnering with the FBI and having access to FBI databases and records, as well as the ability to travel to other jurisdictions, has been very helpful in these cases. Also, the clarity and penalties of the federal laws, as opposed to individual state laws, ensure convicted human traffickers can receive the punishments they deserve.”
