Jacksonville Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Human Trafficking

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Jacksonville man was sentenced today to 360 months in prison for sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.  On September 24, 2020, Jesse Gabriel Marks pled guilty to the charges.  The sentence also requires Marks to pay $249,700 in restitution to multiple victims. 

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Marks, 38, prostituted hundreds of women, including at least one minor, over nearly two decades. He used drugs, including heroin and methamphetamine, to keep them dependent on and prostituting for him. After meeting Marks, many victims either developed addictions or deepened their addictions, ruining their health and, in many cases, their lives. Marks physically and emotionally abused many of the victims. He also gave women drug cocktails without their full knowledge and, once they were unconscious or nearly unconscious, sexually assaulted them. He recorded many of those sexual assaults on video.

G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Jacksonville Police Department investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin C. Blondel and Bryan Stephany  prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:19-CR-127-D.