Two sentenced in 2017 human trafficking case

Oct. 10—State Attorney General Chris Carr's two-year-old Human Trafficking Unit scored its first victory with the recent sentencing of a Lawrenceville man and Atlanta woman found guilty in an underage sex trafficking case.

Keron Owen Hamilton and Meyetta King-Brown were sentenced to decades in prison for transporting a 16-year-old girl to a Cumberland motel. The girl would later tell investigators Hamilton had brought her to the motel for the purpose of her exchanging sexual acts for money, and that Hamilton would then take the money from her.

Hamilton will serve a 30-year sentence, according to a news release from Carr's office. King-Brown will serve a 20-year sentence.

An undercover officer arranged an Oct. 13, 2017 meeting at the Extended Stay America hotel on Interstate North Parkway, near the Interstate 75 and Windy Hill Road junction. After learning the girl was underage, police found Hamilton at a nearby gas station with King-Brown.

King-Brown was initially charged with a single misdemeanor count of giving false information after officers said she used a fake name and birth date in an attempt to mislead them.

Both Hamilton and King-Brown, however, were found guilty by a jury Sept. 24 of providing and transporting a minor "for sexual servitude."

Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris noted in the hearing that "sex trafficking doesn't just happen around airports or sporting events. It is in our community." In sentencing the defendants, Harris remarked that they used the "young, vulnerable" victims "to enrich themselves." Before sentencing, Harris concluded by commenting that "We are all responsible for our choices."

The case was the first jury trial conviction for the Human Trafficking Unit, formed in 2019, according to the release.