“Thank you to the courageous survivor of this human trafficking case for contacting law enforcement and providing details so that investigators could remove the suspect from the community and in doing so, protecting other potential victims. We appreciate the efforts of the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force and their law enforcement partners as they work together put a stop to this horrific crime.”
CSLEA President Alan Barcelona
SAN DIEGO – On December 1, 2025, Darell Davis, 22, of Sacramento was sentenced in federal court to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $9,950 in restitution for conspiring to sex traffic an 18-year-old woman by coercion and physical violence.
On September 11, 2025, Davis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking through force, fraud, or coercion. His guilty plea stemmed from conduct spanning from December 15, 2022, to January 11, 2023, when Davis transported the victim from Sacramento to San Diego to sell her body for his financial gain.
Davis created commercial sex advertisements featuring the victim on an adult website and kept a ledger of all the victim’s prostitution earnings, as well as a ledger on earnings of at least two other women under his control. Davis also kept notes of all the “blades,” the geographical locations for street-based prostitution, in various cities.
On January 10, 2025, the victim contacted the San Deigo Police Department for help and identified her trafficker by his moniker, “Benzo.” The victim told investigators that she first met Davis when she was 17 years old and was introduced to the pimping and prostitution subculture. The victim also stated that Davis explained the prostitution rules, set a daily quota that she was required to earn, and made her work six days a week and up to 10 to 14 hours a day. The victim’s location was even electronically tracked by Davis through a tracking application and all her earnings went to Davis. The victim reported physical abuse and fear based on Davis possessing a handgun.
On January 11, 2023, the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force arrested Davis outside a hotel in Chula Vista. Upon the execution of a search warrant of the room Davis was staying in, investigators recovered a loaded non-serialized handgun and ammunition.
“Sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion is a terrible crime that has no place in California,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The California Department of Justice-led San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force is committed to putting a stop to human trafficking, and to holding accountable those who prey on Californians for their own financial gain. I’m grateful to our law enforcement partners for their collaboration, and to the U.S. Attorney’s office for their work to prosecute this case. When we work together, we get results.”
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Ko and Lyndzie M. Carter.
DEFENDANT Case Number 23-cr-00549-LL
Darrell Davis Age: 22 Sacramento, California
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking through Force, Fraud or Coercion – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1594(c)
Maximum penalty: Up to life in prison and $250,000 fine
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES
San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force
San Diego Police Department
San Diego County District Attorney Office
Department of Homeland Security Investigations
Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Diego
San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force
The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force is a cooperative effort involving the California Department of Justice, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, National City Police Department, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, San Diego City Attorney’s Office, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, San Diego County Probation Department, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Police Department, Southwest Border High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.