Man Sentenced to 472 Years for Facebook Human Trafficking Scheme

A Colorado state court has just sent down the longest sentence in U.S. history for a case of human trafficking. 31-year-old Brock Franklin was found guilty on 30 counts of human trafficking this year, including human trafficking of a minor and soliciting child prostitution.

Franklin has been sentenced to 472 years in prison. Three of the other six members of his sex-trafficking ring have aleady been sentenced, though none has received as harsh treatment as Franklin himself. David Fullenwiley Jones reportedly received an 18-year sentence after pleading guilty to human trafficking for sexual servitude, and Isis Debeaux was given a four-year deferred sentence after pleading guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Victims of Franklin's organization testified in court, saying that he used narcotics to capture them and violence to control them. Franklin's scheme involved finding vulnerable girls and women through sites like Facebook, and luring them into his circle. Franklin then often drugged his victims to make them submissive.

Franklin used websites like backpages.com to advertise his victims for prostitution, mostly in motels. He held them responsible for earning certain quotas, and he was violent if they didn't make enough money.

Franklin took the money from his captives and used it to sustain himself and grow his criminal operation. His victims were kept supplied with sedatives or drugs like ecstasy so that they'd be disoriented.

"I can't begin to even explain what he did to my life," one of his victims told local news outlets. "He deserves every single minute in those walls."