(WWJ) - A father and son were sentenced to federal prison Friday afternoon after the men pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges along with firearm and controlled substance offenses, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a release.
Eligah Goodman, 68, will spend over nine years in federal prison while his son, Erskin Bernard Perryman, 49, was sentenced in March of last year to 15 years behind bars.
Both men were arrested in February of last year and arraigned on charges of sex trafficking, but COVID protocols pushed back their sentencing.
“These defendants treated their victims like a commodity,” stated U.S. Attorney Ison.
“They targeted vulnerable women and exploited them for their own profit and fueled their drug addictions by providing them with drugs. We hope that today’s sentence offers these victims a sense of justice and closure and sends the message that we will not tolerate sex trafficking in our communities. “
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According to court documents, the duo ran a sex trafficking ring out of their Detroit home on Hazelwood, by providing drug-addicted women crack cocaine and heroin in exchange for sexual favors and commercial sex dates. Goodman lived in the home and gave the women a place to stay while he monitored their drug use and collected money from their commercial sex sessions.
His son, Perryman, supplied the cocaine and heroin.
Court documents also showed the women were often subjected to physical abuse from Perryman if they refused to engage in commercial sex for drugs.
"By plying their victims with drugs, forcing them to engage in commercial sex, and subjecting them to violence if they refused, the defendants took away the freedom and dignity to which these women are entitled,” said Josh P. Hauxhurst, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office.
“The FBI remains committed to working on behalf of victims across the state to hold traffickers responsible for their crimes."
If anyone suspects any child or adult is a victim of sex/human trafficking, the Michigan Department of Human Health and Services can be reached any time day or night by calling 855-444-3911.
If the individual is in imminent danger, authorities advise to immediately call 911.
Victims or tipsters can also contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 888-373-7888 or text 233733 -- the national, toll-free hotline is available to answer calls, texts and chats from anywhere in the country, 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, every day of the year.
Calls are always confidential.
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