10-year sentence in sex trafficking of runaway girl
East Hartford man promoted prostitution
An East Hartford man who trafficked a 16-year-old runaway girl for sex was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison and five years of supervised released.
Alexander Pedraza, 28, promoted the prostitution of the girl, who had been a ward of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. He picked the girl up in Auburn, Mass., in March 2017 and pressed her into working as a prostitute at the Flamingo Inn in Windsor, the Rodeway Inn in East Windsor and hotels in Hartford, according to federal prosecutors.
Pedraza solicited customers for the girl through the website backpage.com, which has since been taken over by the government and shut down. She saw as many as 10 customers a day at Pedraza’s instruction, prosecutors said.
The troubled teen also solicited customers for herself via the app Plenty of Fish, according to federal prosecutors.
While staying at the Rodeway Inn just off I-91 in East Windsor, the teen called her mother in Massachusetts to let her know she was OK. Although the phone number was blocked, the girl’s mother called her local police department and law enforcement was able to determine the call came from near the Rodeway Inn.
An FBI agent posed as a customer and set up a meeting with the girl. The FBI and East Windsor police then rescued her.
On the teen’s cellphone, police found Pedraza’s phone number listed under “Daddy” and “Papi,” terms prostituted women often use to refer to their pimps, according to federal prosecutors.
The authorities also recovered a variety of text messages, including one in which Pedraza urges the girl to spend a half-hour with customer so she can charge more money.
Pedraza also had sexual contact with the victim, federal prosecutors said.
Police also learned during the investigation that Pedraza trafficked two 18-year-old women in late 2016.
Pedraza has been in custody since his arrest on May 26, 2017. He pleaded guilty Feb. 11 to a single count of sex trafficking of a minor.
David Owens can be reached at dowens@courant.com.