A Memphis man was sentenced to 135 months in prison, followed by ten years of supervised release, for sex trafficking of a minor and interstate sex trafficking.
According to court documents and statements made in court, 31-year-old Wayne Edwards Settles, trafficked a minor for commercial sex and transported another individual from Louisiana to Mississippi to engage in commercial sex.
Settles posted advertisements online for the minor and branded her with a tattoo. The minor was trafficked in Jackson, Memphis, and New Orleans. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 11, 2022. Settles pled guilty on October 25, 2022 to one count of sex trafficking of a minor and one count of interstate sex trafficking.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, and Richland Police Department investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly T. Purdie prosecuted the case.
