Columbia Man Sentenced to 35 Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking and Possession of a Firearm During a Drug Trafficking Crime

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated that Alshura Tabil Annessa Frazier, age 36, of Columbia, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court in Columbia, for sex trafficking of children, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a) (1) and for possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).  United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis, of Columbia, imposed a sentence of 420 months (35 years) imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervised release and a $5,200 special assessment fee.  Judge Lewis also ordered Frazier to pay the victims restitution totaling $159,500.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that the victim in this case was a minor (under the age of eighteen) from North Carolina.  Around Memorial Day in 2015, the victim left her family and met Frazier in Myrtle Beach.  Following this encounter, Frazier and others had sex with the victim in exchange for providing her with the recreational drug “Molly” and shelter for the night.  After leaving Myrtle Beach, Frazier brought the victim to Columbia where Frazier recruited her to perform sexual acts with clients for money.  Frazier transported her to and from North Carolina and South Carolina on multiple occasions for the purpose of prostitution.   Frazier received 100% of the profits made from the prostitution.  The victim was sixteen-years-old at the time she began working as a prostitute for Frazier.  During this time, Frazier knew that the victim was under the age of eighteen.

In addition, on March 18, 2015, after a Richland County deputy attempted to make a traffic stop on a car driven by Frazier, Frazier refused to stop and a chase ensued.  During the chase, Frazier pulled into a parking lot and let a female passenger exit the vehicle.  The female passenger, later identified as a prostitute working for Frazier, ran from the scene carrying a box.  Unable to locate Frazier that day, officers, with the help of citizens, found the female passenger hiding in the woods.  She then led officers to the box that she exited the vehicle with earlier which contained a 10mm Glock pistol, cocaine, crack cocaine, and the  suspected drug, “Molly.”  The female passenger told officers that the box belonged to Frazier and that he gave it to her when he stopped to let her out and told her to run. 

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Springdale Police Department, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.  Assistant United States Attorneys William K. Witherspoon and T. DeWayne Pearson of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.

#####