Meriden Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking of 3 Teens

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CARLEN DAVIS, 37, of Meriden, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 188 months of imprisonment, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for sex trafficking three teenage girls, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2015 and 2016, Davis recruited harbored and transported three females, who at the time were 14, 15 and 16 years old, to engage in commercial sex acts.  Davis used the website Backpage to advertise the minor victims’ services, and he transported the girls to various Connecticut hotels, including hotels in Meriden, Milford and Hamden, where they worked in prostitution for Davis.

On December 9, 2016, Davis was arrested on related state charges.  He has been detained since his arrest and the state charges are pending.

On August 17, 2017, Davis pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of sex trafficking of a minor.

In September 2006, Davis was sentenced in New Haven federal court to 150 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for distributing crack cocaine.  Due to changes in the federal crack cocaine sentencing guidelines, Davis had his sentence reduced in December 2013 to 130 months of imprisonment.  He was released from federal prison in June 2014.

Judge Shea sentenced Davis to a concurrent 60-month prison term for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

This matter was investigated by the Connecticut Human Trafficking Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Meriden Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anastasia E. King and Sarala V. Nagala.