ATLANTA — An Atlanta man is now facing 15 years in prison for assisting in the trafficking of an underage girl at the hotel where he worked as a clerk.
Dionte Johnson's sentencing is part of a larger investigation into the trafficking of one particular victim.
“Dionte Johnson used his role as a hotel clerk to further facilitate the trafficking of a child, and now he will spend his next 15 years behind bars,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “This conviction marks a major step in our ongoing efforts to end human trafficking and sends a strong message to those engaged in similar activities that it will not be tolerated in our state."
More on the case
This case started unfolding on Dec. 18, 2021, when a Cherokee County deputy pulled over Mark Thomas for a traffic violation. At the time, a 16-year-old girl was in Thomas’ passenger seat.
This stop led to Thomas being arrested and the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and Homeland Security Investigations launching a multi-county investigation.
It was discovered during an interview with the teenager, she had been sold for sex by Thomas for approximately three months beginning in September of 2021 when she was 15 years old.
Thomas, who is now convicted of the crime, drove the teenager to Woodstock, where she was sold to Jose Medina Dominguez and Cesar Juarez Oaxaca.
Dominguez pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude and one count of statutory rape in Cherokee County Superior Court. He was sentenced to 25 years, with 10 years to be served in prison.
Oaxaca pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude in Cherokee County Superior Court. He was sentenced to 25 years, with 12 years to be served in prison.
Thomas also sold the teenager for sex along Fulton Industrial Boulevard and surrounding hotels in Fulton County. One of those hotels being the Economy Motel. The Attorney General’s office said Dionte Johnson, who at the time was a clerk at the motel, helped Thomas by supplying him rooms and received a portion of the financial proceeds from the sale of the teenager.
11Alive confirmed Dionte Johnson is already a registered sex offender after being convicted of aggravated sexual battery in 2013. He was arrested in February after being indicted on charges connected to this human trafficking ring.
Thomas, 38, was sentenced to two life sentences after being convicted of minor sex trafficking in Fulton and Cherokee counties.