Burlington Man Charged with Human Trafficking and Possession of a Firearm

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that on March 21, 2017, Naquan Bowie entered a plea of not guilty in District Court in Burlington before Chief United States District Court Judge Christina Reiss to a federal indictment charging him with one count of human trafficking and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Upon the government’s motion for detention, Judge Reiss ordered Bowie temporarily detained pending a detention hearing on March 24. However, on March 23, 2017, the defendant withdrew his opposition to the government’s motion for detention pending trial.

According to the federal grand jury indictment returned March 16, 2017, Bowie trafficked “Victim M.P.” from in or about October 2016 to in or about January 2017, in Vermont, knowing that force, the threat of force, fraud, and coercion would be used to cause Victim M.P. to engage in commercial sex acts. Court documents further indicate that Bowie used heroin and crack cocaine, as well as violence or the threat of violence, to cause M.P. to perform commercial sex acts for Bowie’s financial gain. Bowie is further accused of unlawfully possessing a Jennings .22 caliber pistol following two prior felony convictions involving the sale and possession of cocaine.

If convicted of human trafficking, Bowie faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years of imprisonment. Bowie faces a maximum sentence of ten years on the gun charge. The actual sentence, however, would be determined by the Court with guidance from the advisory Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The charges in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty.

Co-defendant Gary Carter is scheduled to be arraigned on felon-in-possession charges on April 10. Carter is not charged with human trafficking.

The United States is represented in this matter by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abigail Averbach. Naquan Bowie is represented by the Office of the Federal Public Defender. The case is currently under investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Homeland Security Investigations; and the Burlington Police Department.