The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oxford has announced the sentencing for one of the defendants in a 2017 human trafficking case.
35-year-old Mario Collins, of Memphis, was sentenced to two years in prison after he, and a co-defendant, were arrested in April 2017. Officers responded to Oxford’s University Inn after receiving a 911 call stating that a victim was being held against her will in a room at the hotel.
A news release from the Oxford Police Department at the time of the arrest stated that the victim was able to text a friend of hers where she was and the type of car she had been transported in. Officers were then able to locate the car, detain the suspects and rescue the victim.
Further investigation revealed that Collins and Clayton had brought the victim to Oxford from Atlanta and forced her into prostitution. The victim also told police that she had been held at gunpoint while being held hostage in the hotel room.
U.S. Attorney William C. Lamar praised the cooperative teamwork of the FBI and the Oxford Police Department and said that they will continue to combat human trafficking.
“We are dedicated to keeping our communities safe, especially from human trafficking. Women, many of whom are very young, are often coerced into prostitution by predators, taken advantage of, and are frequently victims of violence themselves. We will continue to work with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to address this problem in our District and prosecute those responsible,” Lamar said.
During the initial arrest, officers searched the car and were able to recover meth, cocaine, marijuana and Xanax.
Sentencing information for Clayton was not available.
