(Omaha, NE) -- A Council Bluffs man is found guilty of sex trafficking.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says that on November 4, after a four-day trial, a federal jury convicted 33 year old Jesse Cody of Sex Trafficking multiple Omaha victims by force, fraud, or coercion. Federal prosecutors say one of the victims Cody coerced was in foster care and a ward of the Sate of Nebraska at the time, and convinced her to travel to multiple states outside of Nebraska where he forced her to have sex with men for money for the defendant’s financial gain.
Prosecutors say the victim testified that Cody beat, raped, and choked her when she would refuse to comply with his demands. They say Cody defrauded another victim, a recent college graduate, into sex trafficking by misrepresenting to the victim the money that she could make prostituting herself, then taking most of the money for himself. Cody’s sentencing hearing is set for January 28, 2022. At sentencing, Cody faces mandatory minimum sentences of 15 years on two of the counts and up to ten years of imprisonment each on the remaining two counts. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Omaha Police Department.