Man accused of running violent sex trafficking ring in Woodland Springs pleads guilty
A North Texas man who operated a large-scale sex trafficking operation out of a far north Fort Worth home has pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion.
Tremont Blakemore, who went by the nickname Macknificent, faces 15 years to life in prison when sentenced. He must also register as a sex offender, according to court documents. Blakemore is being held at the FCI Seagoville federal prison in Dallas County. A plea agreement was entered and signed by Blakemore in March.
Blakemore, 42, was arrested in September 2018 after a police raid at the house in the Villages of Woodland Springs. He forced women into performing sexual acts across the DFW area and in at least 11 other states, according to a criminal complaint filed after his arrest.
The 16-page complaint filed in the Northern District of Texas described a culture of paranoia, fear and physical and emotional abuse inside Blakemore’s trafficking network. Police have said that Blakemore has likely controlled upward of 100 women.
At least seven of those victims were identified and interviewed by investigators, according to the criminal complaint. They had been trafficked from as early as 2011 to as recently of September 2018. Blakemore made more than $841,500 from the ring between December 2017 and September 2018, investigators wrote.
The indictment says he required each woman he controlled — which was upwards of 20 at a time — to make $1,000 a night before he would let them in the house. He gave them $10 a day for food, the document says.
However, Blakemore only pleaded guilty to trafficking one woman, referred to as AV7 in documents.
Blakemore told investigators that he required the women, including AV7, to turn all proceeds over to him. He used the money to buy Rolex watches, designer clothing and Rolls Royces, according to the plea agreement documents.
He said he found AV7 on Facebook and flew her to Dallas. After spending a few days with her, Blakemore said he told the woman he was a pimp and he wanted her to work for him. He admitted he used violence control AV7 until she escaped from him in December 2012, according to the document.
The violence escalated to him beating AV7 at a Grand Prairie hotel after he heard from other women that she talked about wanting to leave Blakemore’s enterprise and have a normal life.
Blakemore admitted to beating her in from of other members while telling them they should be content with their lives.
