Dallas Men Indicted On Conspiracy, Kidnapping And Firearms Charges

Defendants Planned to Sell Victim into Sex Slavery

DALLAS — A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging Steric Paul Mitchell, 43, and Gregory Steven Hunt, aka “K.C.,” 40, with conspiracy, kidnapping and firearms charges stemming from their kidnapping last year of a female victim whom they planned to sell into sex slavery, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. The two men, both residents of Dallas, are currently in state custody. A date has not been set for them to make their initial appearance in federal court before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.

Specifically, the indictment charges each defendant with one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, one substantive count of kidnapping and one count of using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. In addition, defendant Mitchell, a convicted felon, is charged with possessing four firearms.

The indictment alleges that in early May 2012 an individual tells the victim in this case that she has a “good friend” who wants to hire a private dancer for a party and that the men are “safe.” At a hotel in Dallas, this individual introduces the victim to defendant Hunt, who pays the individual and then drives the victim to an abandoned house in Dallas, where defendant Mitchell was waiting. Mitchell hired Hunt to pick up the victim at the hotel and transport her to another location under the ruse that Hunt was taking her to a private party, when, in fact, Hunt and Mitchell planned to kidnap and sexually assault her.

At the abandoned house, Mitchell threatened the victim with a firearm and shocked her with a Taser to frighten and restrain her. Hunt then raped her while Mitchell stood guard with a firearm. Mitchell then shocked her again with a Taser, bound her ankles and wrists, wrapped her in a bed sheet, carried her to another motor vehicle and put her in the backseat. The next day, Mitchell drove the victim to another house in Dallas, where he carried her inside and raped her. Afterwards, Mitchell contacted an unknown individual and negotiated the sale of the victim. He told the victim that he was going to sell her into sex slavery and then drugged and bound her again. He again wrapped her in a bed sheet, put her in the backseat of a vehicle and drove her to a house in Duncanville, Texas, where he sexually assaulted her.

A federal indictment is an accusation by a grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, the conspiracy and kidnapping counts each carry, upon conviction, a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison. The using, carrying and brandishing a firearm count carries, upon conviction, a mandatory consecutive sentence of at least seven years in federal prison. The felon in possession count carries, upon conviction, a statutory penalty of not less than 15 years in federal prison. Each count, upon conviction, also carries a statutory maximum fine of $250,000.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Duncanville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cara Foos Pierce is in charge of the prosecution.