Miami man who belonged to the Latin Kings gang found guilty of sex trafficking women
.jpg "Edward Nicholas Carney, 54, of Kissimmee, Florida was sentenced to over 15 years in federal prison after admitting to possessing more than 1 million child sexual abuse files.")
A Miami man who authorities say belonged to the notorious Latin Kings gang was found guilty Wednesday of forcing women to have commercial sex and beating them if they didn’t obey his orders.
Jason Wagner, aka “King Ace,” was convicted of sex-trafficking two women by a Miami federal jury at a trial this week. He was acquitted of two related counts, involving a third woman and kidnapping.
Wagner, 41, who has a prior state conviction for sex trafficking, faces up to life in the federal case at his sentencing on Jan. 12, 2024 before U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga.
Wagner’s membership in the longtime Latin Kings, which was founded as an Hispanic street gang in Chicago decades ago, was discovered by federal investigators. But the gang didn’t appear to play a role in his sex-trafficking crime, according to court records.
Wagner was arrested in March of last year after one of his victims tossed a note to a customer at a local Walgreen’s pharmacy, accusing him of forcing her into prostitution. In the note, the victim asked the customer to call the police.
In multiple interviews, the victim told investigators that starting in June 2021, “Wagner was holding her against her will at a house located in Miami, Florida, and was forcing her to engage in commercial sex acts for money,” according to a complaint and affidavit written by a Homeland Security Investigations agent.
The victim said Wagner posted advertisements on websites known for prostitution. She told investigators that Wagner told her to charge clients at least $500 for commercial sex acts and made her give him all of the money, the affidavit said.
Wagner kept her locked up in the Miami house, where she met with clients for commercial sex, the victim told investigators.
“The victim stated that if she did not make the amount of money that Wagner required her to make, he would physically batter [her] by, among other things, punching her in the head and choking her,” according to the affidavit, filed by lead prosecutor Lacee Elizabeth Monk.
She said “Wagner told her to keep her phone on during the commercial sex act so that he could listen to what she was doing with a client,” the affidavit stated. She “did not want to do so, but eventually complied and picked up Wagner’s phone calls during the commercial sex transaction.”
When Wagner returned to the house, she said, he hit her “with a closed first in the head and choked her.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 2:12 PM.
