Man gets 10-year sentence in Boynton human-trafficking case
WEST PALM BEACH — A 23-year-old Port St. Lucie man convicted in November of human trafficking in Palm Beach County has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Judge Laura Johnson imposed the sentence on Christopher Thomas during a hearing Monday concerning a February 2017 case in Boynton Beach. It came after Johnson denied motions by Thomas’ attorney for a new trial and to lower the minimum sentencing guidelines.
Thomas’ mother, Sebrena Watkins of Port St. Lucie, said Tuesday her son will seek to appeal the conviction in the case, in which two other men also have faced charges.
“I feel injustice,” Watkins told The Post. “My son was just a driver that night. He had nothing to do with anything else. When it comes down to it, my son did not hurt anyone . ... He didn’t human-traffic anyone.”
Thomas, who at one point lived in the West Palm Beach area, was found guilty Nov. 16 of one count each of human trafficking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, deriving support for proceeds of prostitution and aggravated assault. He was one of three men arrested in February 2017 on allegations they kidnapped a woman, then 19, from a home in Boynton Beach and tried to sell her into prostitution.
One of the defendants in the case, Jackson Poinvil, was placed on five years of probation in October. Poinvil later testified during Thomas’ trial on behalf of the prosecution. The other defendant, Jimmy Edmond, still faces trial.
During the trial, Thomas’ attorney argued that Thomas gave Poinvil and Edmond a ride to the Boynton Beach home, but was not involved either in the kidnapping or human trafficking.
Thomas is the third man from Palm Beach County to be convicted for human trafficking or related charges since the formation of the county’s human trafficking task force in January 2017.