The U.S. Department of Justice shared Monday that Dominique Terrel Gonzales, 35, was sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of sex trafficking a minor.
Since being arrested for illegal firearms possession in August 2020, Gonzales has been in federal custody.
The court has set a restitution hearing date for August 18. Following his time in prison, Gonzales will face 15 years of supervised release.
Gonzales first met the victim when she was 13 or 14 years old, according to court documents. By the time she had turned 17, Gonzales coerced her to engage in commercial sex acts.
He transported the victim across state lines and facilitated the acts in a rented apartment in Portland, Oregon.
Reportedly, Gonzales collected all proceeds from these commercial sex acts and imposed strict rules on the victim as a way to control her.
“For years this defendant used violence, threats, and emotional coercion to force vulnerable young women into having sex with strangers and giving their earnings to him,” Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller said. “He preyed upon teenagers and young women who were insecure and estranged from their families.”
“To maintain control over his victims, Gonzales physically beat them, verbally assaulted them, and forced them to install tracking programs on their cellphones so that he could follow their every move. He used whatever means necessary to ensure that his victims engaged in prostitution to fund his luxurious lifestyle,” Miller continued.
“Today’s sentencing is a powerful reminder that those who prey on vulnerable children through violence and exploitation will be held fully accountable,” Matthew Murphy of ICE Homeland Security Investigations Seattle said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting victims, dismantling trafficking networks, and ensuring that those responsible face the full weight of the law.”
The investigation was a joint effort between Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Olympia Police Department, Vancouver Police Department, Idaho State Police, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General and the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Countering Human Trafficking.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Crisham for the Western District of Washington and Trial Attorney Jessica Arco of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
