BOSTON — A Boston man was sentenced in federal court Thursday to 28 years in prison, for witness tampering by attempting to kill a man, and for his role in a multi-state sex trafficking ring.
This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI and the Boston Police Department’s Human Trafficking and Homicide Units.
“Mr. Casanova attempted to take a man’s life in order to assure his silence,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “In short, Mr. Casanova placed greater value on the continuance of the sex and drug trafficking organization he ran with Raymond Jeffreys, than the life of another person. Today’s sentence demonstrates the strength of the legal system to hold violent perpetrators accountable for their crimes.”
Jaquan Casanova aka “Cass,” “Joffe,” “Joffy,” and “Joffy Joe,” 24, of Boston, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 28 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In June 2016, he was convicted by a federal jury following a seven-day trial of tampering with a witness by attempting to kill him and lying to a federal agent about his involvement in the sex trafficking ring.
On April 30, 2013, Casanova shot Darian Thomson (aka “Bo”) in the head to prevent him from communicating with federal law enforcement officers. Casanova was a member of a multi-state criminal organization led by Raymond Jeffreys that was involved in sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and fraudulent check cashing. In March 2013, Thomson was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges while in custody in New Jersey on unrelated charges. In April 2013, Thomson was released and returned to Boston, where Casanova attempted to kill him. Jeffreys and other members of the criminal organization erroneously believed that Thomson had been released as a result of his cooperation with federal law enforcement, and that he would continue to provide information about their criminal activities.
From 2006 to May 2014, Jeffreys and other members of his organization trafficked women and minor girls, in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Nevada, Georgia, Florida, and California. Jeffreys targeted vulnerable girls and women, including those who were poor and homeless, drug addicts, and those who were already working as prostitutes. Many of the women either had children when they met Jeffreys and became pregnant with his child.
Jeffreys used a variety of techniques to persuade and manipulate the women, including making promises about providing for them and their children, and then only doing so if the women performed acts of prostitution. Jeffreys used a variety of techniques to control the girls and women, including by threatening the women that he would kill them. Jeffreys also taught other men how to engage in sex trafficking and worked with other men as “pimp partners” or “p partners” to share resources, such as car rides, hotel rooms, and payment for online advertisements.
On May 19, 2016, Jeffreys was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking, tampering with a witness by attempting to kill him, and making a false statement to a federal agent.
