ATLANTA — As 2023 wraps up, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit has secured 29 convictions, all resulting in prison sentences, giving them a 100% conviction rate.
"This has really been a year of results for us," Hannah Palmquist, the Chief of Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, said.
This does not include new indictments in ongoing investigations into human trafficking across the state and metro Atlanta. On Tuesday, Carr announced the unit's newest indictment handed up in Clayton County.
A grand jury indicted 24-year-old Felipe Smith, of Atlanta, with six counts of Trafficking of Persons for Sexual Servitude and three counts of Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
Palmquist said her team alleges Smith transported and sold the disabled woman to buyers at various hotels around metro Atlanta.
"It’s hard to imagine that somebody would be capable of selling a child or a disabled person," Palmquist said, adding that, "It’s equally disturbing to know there’s a market out there to buy the children and disabled adults."
Palmquist said her team's primary goal is to protect the most vulnerable Georgians. She knows they are one of the biggest targets for traffickers.
"Trafficking plays on vulnerability. Some need is being unmet, and the trafficker converses with them, promises them things, offers to fill that need," she explained.
She said while it's hard to understand unless you're ever put in that situation, it can be really difficult for these individuals being trafficked to understand how to escape it.
It's especially true when, in some cases, it's an organization behind the crime.
As for this suspect, Palmquist said, "he was associated with the gang known as PDE," a street gang known as Paradise East or Paper Drugs Extortion, primarily based in DeKalb County but can be found across the state.
She explained that street gangs and trafficking often overlap.
"Gangs are about power," she said. "They’re about making people afraid. They’re a money-making machine, and human trafficking is, unfortunately, a way they choose to make that money."
This case was investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s (GBI) Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, along with the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking and Gang Prosecution Units. Smith was taken into custody with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service.
The Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit has 39 defendants who are currently under indictment for sex or labor trafficking, with some facing charges in multiple jurisdictions around the state.
The Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit is housed in the Prosecution Division, including Carr’s Gang Prosecution Unit and his Public Integrity and White Collar Crime Unit.
If you suspect human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at (888) 373-7888. To report suspected human trafficking in Georgia, contact the Statewide 24-Hour Human Trafficking Hotline at (866) 363-4842. If you have reason to believe that a victim is in imminent danger, call 911 or your local law enforcement agency to file a report. For more information on how to get help for both national and foreign-born victims of human trafficking, visit www.endhtga.org.