Odarie Massiah, a 34-year-old man from Sioux Falls, has been convicted of Sex Trafficking of an Adult by Force and Coercion.
On Monday, he was sentenced to 27 years and three months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Massiah was indicted by a federal grand jury in August of last year and found guilty in March following a three-day trial. The conviction pertains to events between July 1, 2020, and September 24, 2022, where Massiah coerced an adult woman into prostitution through physical and emotional abuse.
He forced the victim to give him the money she earned from prostitution. After a warrant was issued for his arrest in Minnehaha County for strangling the victim on two occasions, Massiah fled with her to Tennessee, where they were apprehended in August 2022.
U.S. Attorney Ramsdell emphasized that Massiah’s conviction highlights the office’s dedication to pursuing justice for victims of such crimes and praised the collaborative efforts of local and federal law enforcement in making communities safer.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Sioux Falls Police Department.