Montgomery Man Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Federal Prison for Child Sex Trafficking

            Montgomery, Alabama – Today, Acting United States Attorney Jonathan S. Ross announced that a federal judge sentenced 37-year-old Karnival McGhee, a resident of Montgomery, Alabama, to 125 months in prison. McGhee’s sentence follows his entering a guilty plea to the charge of sex trafficking a minor. During yesterday’s sentencing hearing, the judge also ordered that McGhee serve five years of supervised release following the prison term. Federal prisoners are not eligible for parole.

            According to his plea agreement and other court records, in December 2021, McGhee was in contact with a child under the age of 16 for several days. During this time, McGhee – both in person and via social media – assisted and enabled the minor to engage in sexual acts with others for money. McGhee facilitated the commercial sex by arranging for hotel rooms and using his own financial accounts for payment.

            This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

            The United States Department of Homeland Security, the Montgomery Police Department, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, and the United States Marshals Service investigated this case, which Assistant United States Attorneys J. Patrick Lamb and Tara S. Ratz prosecuted.