NORFOLK, Va. – A man who resided in California and Virginia was sentenced today to 40 years in prison for sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. 

According to court documents, Naeem Lateef Odums, 40, of Clovis, California and Portsmouth, Virginia, forced “Jane Doe 1” to engage in commercial sex acts in California, Virginia, and five other states for nearly nine years. Odums used a combination of extreme physical violence, threats of violence, and threats of kidnapping Jane Doe 1’s children, and other forms of control to cause her to perform commercial sex acts. Court documents note that Odums kicked, punched, and hit Jane Doe 1 with chairs, ashtrays, and other objects – often while Jane Doe 1’s three small children watched, crying. Odums also choked Jane Doe 1, threatened her with a gun, and threatened to kill her and her mother. 

Odums arranged commercial sex appointments for Jane Doe 1 using a website known to promote prostitution, and collected all the money Jane Doe 1 earned both from her appointments, as well as from her legitimate jobs. In January 2017, Jane Doe 1 was hospitalized after Odums broke three of her ribs and punctured her lung, then forced her to go on a commercial sex “date” and drove her to the customer’s location. The “date” declined to engage in commercial sex with Jane Doe 1 given her injuries, but paid her for the appointment nonetheless.

Court documents also identify two additional women, Jane Does 2 and 3, in the Tidewater area that Odums attempted to trick into performing commercial sex by posting sexually explicit photographs of them on websites known to promote prostitution. The women had sent Odums these racy photographs because both believed they were in a romantic relationship with him. Neither Jane Doe 2 nor 3 knew, or consented to, Odums posting them in this way.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk; and Tonya D. Chapman, Chief of Portsmouth Police Department; made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen. Assistant U.S. Attorney V. Kathleen Dougherty prosecuted the case.

This case was investigated by the Hampton Roads Human Trafficking Task Force.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:17-cr-46.