Human Trafficking Charges in Miami

Real trafficking does real harm, and the law treats it that way. That is exactly why an accusation has to be proven, not assumed. These cases often rest on a few people's statements, phone extractions, money records, and online ads, and the line between trafficking and other conduct can be thinner than the charge suggests.

Dennis Gonzalez Jr. is a former Miami-Dade prosecutor who has been defending people since 2012. Everything you tell us is confidential. Our office answers 24 hours a day.

What Florida Law Calls "Human Trafficking"

Florida's human trafficking statute is section 787.06. It defines human trafficking as transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, providing, enticing, maintaining, purchasing, patronizing, procuring, or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploitation of that person.

The statute reaches three kinds of people. A person commits the offense if he or she, "knowingly, or in reckless disregard of the facts":

• engages in human trafficking;
• attempts to engage in human trafficking; or
• benefits financially by receiving anything of value from participation in a venture that has subjected a person to human trafficking.

A venture is any group of two or more people associated in fact, whether or not it is a legal entity.

Coercion is defined in the statute. It includes using or threatening physical force; restraining, isolating, or confining someone (or threatening to) without lawful authority and against the person's will; debt bondage (labor or services pledged as security for a debt when their reasonable value is not applied to paying it off, or their length and nature are not limited and defined); destroying, hiding, taking, or holding someone's passport, visa, or other government ID; causing or threatening financial harm; luring someone by fraud or deceit; and providing certain Schedule I or II controlled substances to exploit the person.

The statute covers two kinds of exploitation:

• Labor or services. Labor is work of economic or financial value. "Services" includes, among other things, forced marriage, servitude, or the removal of organs.
• Commercial sexual activity. This means any violation of Florida's prostitution laws (chapter 796) or an attempt, and includes sexually explicit performances and the production of pornography.

The Forms of Trafficking and Their Degrees

Under section 787.06(3), each of the following is a first-degree felony (up to 30 years in prison under Florida's general sentencing statute):

• Trafficking for labor or services of a child under 18, or of an adult the accused believed was under 18.
• Using coercion for labor or services of an adult.
• Using coercion for commercial sexual activity of an adult.
• The same three forms when the person is an "unauthorized alien" (a person not authorized under federal law to work in the United States).
• Trafficking for labor or services, or for commercial sexual activity, by transferring or transporting a child (or an adult believed to be a child) into Florida from outside the state. When the transport is for commercial sexual activity, the statute allows imprisonment for a term of years up to life.
• Using coercion to transfer or transport an adult into Florida for labor or services or for commercial sexual activity.

Life felonies:

• Trafficking for commercial sexual activity in which a child under 18, an adult believed to be under 18, or a person who is mentally defective or mentally incapacitated is involved. Florida's sentencing statute sets a term of imprisonment for life for this offense.
• A parent, legal guardian, or other person with custody or control of a minor who sells or transfers the minor, or offers to, knowing or in reckless disregard that the minor will be subjected to human trafficking.

Capital felony (offenses on or after October 1, 2025): A person 18 or older who knowingly initiates, organizes, plans, finances, directs, manages, or supervises a venture that has subjected a child under 12, or a person who is mentally defective or mentally incapacitated, to human trafficking for sexual exploitation commits capital human trafficking of vulnerable persons for sexual exploitation. "Sexual exploitation" here means a sexual battery offense under section 794.011 (other than its false-accusation subsection). The sentence is death or life imprisonment, decided in a separate penalty proceeding. If the State intends to seek the death penalty, it must give notice and file it within 45 days after arraignment, listing the aggravating factors it intends to prove; the court may allow an amendment for good cause. The 2025 law itself recognizes existing case law holding that a death sentence for this kind of offense is unconstitutional, and directs that a death sentence be imposed anyway. If the Florida Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court reviews such a sentence and still finds it unconstitutional, the person must be resentenced to life.

Other provisions:

• Separate counts. For each instance of human trafficking of any individual, a separate crime is committed and a separate punishment is authorized.
• Branding. Permanently branding a victim, or directing it, to commit or facilitate trafficking is a second-degree felony.
• Injury. If the accused causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement during the offense, a second-degree felony becomes a first-degree felony, and a first-degree felony becomes a life felony.
• Forfeiture. Real or personal property used, attempted to be used, or intended to be used in a violation may be seized and forfeited under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act, and, after liens, the proceeds from property owned by a convicted defendant go first to restitution for the victims.

Age and Consent: What the Statute Says Is Not a Defense

The statute is explicit:

• Mistaken age is not a defense. The defendant's ignorance of the victim's age, the victim's misrepresentation of his or her age, or the defendant's bona fide belief about the victim's age cannot be raised as a defense.
• Consent of a minor is not a defense. If the victim was under 18 at the time of the offense, the victim's lack of chastity or the willingness or consent of the victim is not a defense.

Because of these rules, a defense that depends on "I thought she was older" or "he agreed to it" will not work when the person was under 18. The defense has to be built on other ground: what the accused actually knew and did, whether the State can prove the elements, and how the evidence was gathered.

Related Florida Charges

These charges often appear in the same case, or are filed instead of trafficking:

• Forcing, compelling, or coercing another to become a prostitute (section 796.04): a third-degree felony.
• Deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution (section 796.05): living on, or deriving support from, what is believed to be another person's prostitution earnings, by someone who knows or reasonably believes the other person is engaged in prostitution. A second-degree felony for a first offense, a first-degree felony for a second, and a first-degree felony with a 10-year mandatory minimum for a third or later.
• Human smuggling (section 787.07): knowingly and willfully transporting into Florida a person the accused knows, or reasonably should know, entered the United States unlawfully and has not been inspected by the federal government since. A third-degree felony, with a separate offense for each person transported; a second-degree felony when a minor is transported, when there are five or more offenses in a single episode, or for a repeat offense. A person arrested for human smuggling must be held in custody until brought before the court for pretrial release.
• Prostitution-related charges under section 796.07. See Prostitution & Solicitation Charges.

Federal Sex Trafficking: 18 U.S.C. § 1591

Federal sex trafficking is charged under 18 U.S.C. § 1591. In general terms, it applies to anyone who knowingly, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, advertises, maintains, patronizes, or solicits a person, or benefits from participation in a venture that did, knowing (or, except for advertising, in reckless disregard of the fact) that force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion will be used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act, or that the person is under 18 and will be caused to engage in a commercial sex act.

The federal penalties are severe:

• 15 years to life if the offense involved force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion, or if the person was under 14.
• 10 years to life if it did not involve those means and the person was 14 to 17.
• In a case charged under the first part of the statute (recruiting, harboring, and the other listed acts, rather than benefiting from a venture), if the defendant had a reasonable opportunity to observe the person, the government does not have to prove the defendant knew, or recklessly disregarded, that the person was under 18.
• Obstructing or interfering with enforcement of the statute carries up to 25 years.

Federal cases in the Southern District of Florida move under federal rules and federal sentencing law. They require a lawyer who knows federal court.

Sex Offender Registration and Sexual Predator Designation

Florida's sexual offender registration statute (section 943.0435) lists certain trafficking offenses: section 787.06(3)(b), (d), (f), or (g), or (5). Those are the forms involving commercial sexual activity and the capital offense. The labor-or-services forms are not on that list.

A capital, life, or first-degree felony under section 787.06(3)(f) or (g) where the victim is a minor, or under section 787.06(5), is also on the list of offenses that lead to designation as a sexual predator under section 775.21.

Registration can control where you live and work for decades. Whether a plea carries registration is one of the most important questions in the case. See Sex Crimes Defense.

Immigration Consequences

For anyone who is not a U.S. citizen, these charges can be life-changing even before the criminal case ends. Federal immigration law:

• Lists as an aggravated felony an offense that relates to owning, controlling, managing, or supervising a prostitution business; certain transportation-for-prostitution offenses committed for commercial advantage; and offenses described in the federal peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, and trafficking statutes, including 18 U.S.C. § 1591.
• Makes inadmissible a person who commits or conspires to commit human trafficking offenses, or whom a consular officer or certain federal officials know or have reason to believe is or has been a knowing aider, abettor, assister, conspirator, or colluder with a trafficker in severe forms of trafficking in persons.

Whether a particular Florida charge or plea fits one of these federal categories is a technical question. Get immigration advice before any plea. See Immigration Consequences of Criminal Charges.

How These Cases Are Built, and Where the Defense Looks

Every case is different, but the defense usually examines:

• Knowledge and reckless disregard. The statute requires that the accused acted knowingly or in reckless disregard of the facts. What did this person actually know?
• Coercion. In the adult forms that require coercion, the State must prove one of the statutory types of coercion, not just a hard job or a bad relationship.
• "Venture" and "benefit." Being near the people involved, renting to them, or being paid for an ordinary service is not the same as knowingly benefiting from participation in a trafficking venture.
• The witnesses. Statements may come from people facing their own charges, immigration pressure, or other motives. Inconsistencies matter.
• Digital evidence. Phone extractions, chats, ads, payment apps, and location data. Who owned the phone, who wrote the messages, and whether the search was lawful. See Motions to Suppress.
• State or federal. Whether the case stays in state court or moves to federal court can change everything about the exposure.

Don't Talk to Investigators

If a detective, federal agent, or task-force officer contacts you, do not explain your side. Tell them your lawyer will contact them, and call us. If you know charges are coming, we can often arrange a surrender. See Turning Yourself In. If you or a loved one is already in custody, see Bond & Nebbia Hearings.

Why Choose Dennis Gonzalez Law, P.A.

• Former Miami-Dade prosecutor.
• Defending people since 2012 in state and federal court.
• Super Lawyers recognition and an Avvo Rating of 10.0.
• Bilingual office — se habla español.
• We answer 24 hours a day. Call (305) 209-0384.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I be charged if I never forced anyone to do anything?

Yes. Some forms of trafficking under Florida law do not require coercion, such as the forms involving a child or a person believed to be a child. Others require coercion. And the statute also covers someone who knowingly, or in reckless disregard of the facts, benefits financially from a venture. Which form is charged matters a great deal.

The person told me they were 18. Is that a defense?

No. The statute says the defendant's ignorance of the victim's age, the victim's misrepresentation of age, or the defendant's bona fide belief about age cannot be raised as a defense.

What if the minor agreed?

The statute says the willingness or consent of a victim under 18 is not a defense.

Will I have to register as a sex offender?

It depends on which part of the statute you are convicted under. The commercial-sexual-activity forms and the capital offense are on Florida's registration list; the labor-or-services forms are not.

Can this be a federal case?

Yes. Federal sex trafficking under 18 U.S.C. § 1591 carries mandatory minimums of 10 or 15 years, up to life.

Is my case confidential?

Yes. What you tell your lawyer is protected by the attorney-client privilege.

How fast can you help?

Our office answers 24 hours a day. Call (305) 209-0384.