Abstract
This Note analyzes the Fourth Circuit’s opinion in United States v. Fuertes, ultimately concluding that, contrary to the decision in Fuertes, sex trafficking should be considered a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Part II of this Note details the acts of German Ventura, a defendant charged with sex trafficking and possession of a gun during a crime of violence. Part III explores the purpose of § 924(c) and courts’ interpretations of “crime of violence”; it then considers federal circuit courts’ bases for finding sex trafficking under the TVPA to be a violent crime under a variety of statutes. Part IV summarizes the Fourth Circuit’s decision to depart from established precedent. Part V scrutinizes the court’s theory that sex trafficking cannot be a violent crime, ultimately resolving that, while sex trafficking should be considered a crime of violence, Congress must change the statute to expressly reflect the violent nature of sex trafficking.
Recommended Citation
Britteny Pfleger,
Syntax or Experience:
What Should Determine If Sex Trafficking
Qualifies as a Crime of Violence?,
81 Mo. L. Rev.
(2016)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol81/iss4/19