Five years later, one of Palm Beach County’s first human trafficking arrests ends in guilty plea

On Aug. 23, Edmond pleaded guilty to human trafficking, weapons and drug charges.

Judge Jeffrey Gillen doled out the nine-year sentence but credited Edmond with 2,021 days — more than five years — of time served in jail while awaiting trial. The Palm Beach County Public Defender's Office represented Edmond in the case.

State and federal law defines human trafficking as transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, providing, maintaining or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploiting that person for either commercial sex activity or labor or services.

The Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Task Force was formed in 2017, combining the efforts of local and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as victim services providers.

Since then, authorities have arrested more than 50 people in Palm Beach County for the offense, resulting in more than a dozen convictions either at trial or through plea agreements.

5 years, 225 victims, 57 arrests: Task force tracks human trafficking in Palm Beach County

Arrest followed incident with woman at Boynton Beach home

At one point Edmond and two other men faced human trafficking charges following their arrests by Boynton Beach police. Officers at the time alleged the three were involved in the kidnapping of a 19-year-old woman from a home on Northwest Fourth Street, near Sara Sims Park.

A witness told police that two of the men pulled guns upon entering the home. One pointed a revolver at the woman's stomach, grabbed her by the back of the head and forced her to leave, police said.

The woman later appeared on the now-defunct website Backpage in an advertisement for a sexual relationship. An undercover detective responded to the advertisement and met the woman at a motel, where she reported being kidnapped and forced to act against her will.

During the course of his prosecution, Edmond was twice ordered to undergo a mental-health evaluation to determine his fitness to stand trial. The most recent order came in November, with Circuit Court Judge Charles Burton ruling in June that Edmond was fit.

Two other men also faced charges in human trafficking case

In November 2017, one of Edmond's co-defendants, Christopher Thomas, was found guilty at trial of human trafficking, kidnapping and false imprisonment, among other charges, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Thomas  is seeking to have his conviction overturned, arguing in court documents that he is innocent and received ineffective counsel during his trial.

The third man arrested in the case, Jackson Poinvil, accepted a plea deal in exchange for testifying at Thomas' trial. Poinvil received five years of probation after he pleaded guilty to a gun charge.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Five years later, one of Palm Beach County's first human trafficking arrests ends in guilty plea