Hartford Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking Minors, Child Pornography Offenses

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHRISTOPHER HAMLETT, also known as “Cadi” and “Cadillac Black,” 26, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 180 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for multiple offenses related to the sex trafficking of minors.

According to the evidence presented during his trial, between August and November 2017, Hamlett recruited and enticed two minor female victims to engage in prostitution at hotels in Hartford and Wethersfield.  In order to solicit clients for the minors, Hamlett took sexually explicit photographs of each minor and submitted them to the website Backpage.

Hamlett began to recruit a 17-year-old minor into prostitution during their first meeting.  He agreed that the minor victim could keep 60 percent of the money she made from prostitution customers, and he would take 40 percent.  The minor victim saw customers for approximately three months.  The evidence at trial included text messages in which Hamlett told the minor victim how much to charge, and threatened the victim when he thought she had not given him his full share of the money.

The trial evidence also showed that Hamlett facilitated the prostitution of a second minor victim who was then 16 years old, using Facebook Messenger to send her clients and explain particular sexual acts.

Hamlett also posted Backpage advertisements for an adult woman who worked for him in prostitution.

Hamlett has been detained since his arrest on February 8, 2018.  On October 16, 2018, a jury found him guilty of two counts of sex trafficking of a minor, five counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to promote commercial sex, and two counts of production of child pornography.

This matter was investigated by the Hartford Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nancy V. Gifford and Sarala V. Nagala.