Lowell man gets 15-to-life for pimping girl, 13

A 31-year-old Lowell man found guilty of pimping a 13-year-old girl has been deemed a habitual offender and slapped with what appears to be the state’s toughest sex-trafficking sentence to date.

Michael Feliz will serve 15 years to life in state prison, Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan announced yesterday.

A jury found Feliz guilty on May 8 of aggravated rape of a child, trafficking of a child under the age of 18 for sexual servitude, deriving financial support of a minor engaged in prostitution, enticement of a child under the age of 16 and two counts of distribution of a Class B substance to a minor.

Ryan said Feliz met the child in November 2014, gave her drugs and alcohol and had sex with her. He told her she had to sell her body to pay for his drug habit. He kept all of her proceeds and got her addicted to drugs, Ryan said.

“Human trafficking is a crime that often feels like it takes place far away. However, this terrible crime is perpetrated in our own communities,” Ryan said. “The defendant in this case provided drugs and alcohol to a minor and then forced the victim to engage in prostitution in order to support his drug habit. This is a reminder that there are secondary victims to drug addiction, including minors, who experience trauma and abuse at the hands of those fueled by their need to procure illicit substances.”

Judge Peter Krupp on Tuesday determined Feliz was a habitual offender and hit him with 15 years to life. If granted parole, Feliz will be placed on three years’ probation and will have to adhere to random drug and alcohol screenings, Ryan said.

The Herald last week reported that despite the state’s toughened 2012 sextrafficking law, most people convicted have pleaded out and received light sentences averaging 4 to 5 1⁄ years. 2 District attorneys responding to the Herald’s inquiry did not report any life sentences, which would make Feliz the first to receive a potential life sentence under that law.

Tyshaun McGhee, who was among the first ever convicted after the law went into effect in February 2012, got a 10- to 15-year prison sentence, which was the previous high the Herald found in its survey of the state’s 11 district attorneys and the attorney general.