Mass. man sentenced to 17 years for sex trafficking women, exploiting addictions

A Boston man was sentenced in federal court in Maine to 17 years in prison after sex trafficking women by exploiting their opioid addictions.

Court documents say 37-year-old Rashad Sabree coerced two young women to engage in commercial sex acts in Maine between December 2015 and the beginning of January 2016.

Sabree exploiting their heroin addictions, verbally abused them and threatened them with violence, according to court documents, and controlled them by supplying them with enough heroin to avoid opiate withdrawal and threatening to cut off their supply if they refused commercial sex.

>>RELATED: Man arrested after crashing stolen taxi and jumping into Fort Point Channel

A driver called 911 after seeing Sabree strike a victim on I-95 towards Massachusetts on January 5, 2016, and Sabree was arrested.

"Sex trafficking is a horrific crime against the human dignity of the victims, and a strong sentence like this one is deserved," Acting United States Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said. "This case is particularly cruel because in addition to the defendant’s use of violence and threats, he exploited the victims’ opioid addictions to compel them to perform commercial sex acts for his profit."

Cox Media Group