MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee man will serve 45 years in a federal prison after being found guilty of 4 counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion along with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
53-year-old Samuel Spencer was also known as “Bin Laden”. A known drug dealer, Spencer used his access to drugs, specifically cocaine and heroin, to coerce women who were struggling with addiction to commit commercial sex acts for him for over 15 years. Investigators found that by controlling the drugs, he was able to “depriv[e] them of sleep and food, threatening them with firearms, and using extreme physical violence, which included strangling his victims, whipping them with belts, burning their skin, and kidnapping one woman in the trunk of his car after she tried to flee from him. During a two-week trial, the government introduced numerous exhibits that included Spencer’s own words boasting about his crimes and threatening to kill and disfigure his victims”.
“For more than 15 years, Samuel Spencer used a combination of violence, threats, forms of torture, manipulation, and financial control to coerce his victims to engage in commercial sex acts for one purpose – to make as much money for him as possible,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory Haanstad. “This cruelty occurred day after day. I commend the relentless work of the investigative and prosecution teams to bring Mr. Spencer to justice, and I commend the courage and resolve of the victims who shared their testimony publicly to ensure that Mr. Spencer could not terrorize additional women in the same manner”.
“Mr. Spencer both physically and mentally harmed and exploited vulnerable women for more than 15 years,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael Hensle of the FBI Milwaukee Field Office. “The lengthy sentence issued by the court reflects the heinous nature of these crimes and that behavior of this type will be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The women and men of the FBI along with our local partners are committed to investigating and obtaining justice for all victims of human trafficking in our Wisconsin communities”.
Once Spencer serves his sentence, he will have 5 years of supervised release.
