Miller Man Sentenced for Attempted Sex Trafficking

United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Miller, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Trafficking with Respect to Involuntary Servitude and Forced Labor was sentenced on September 26, 2016, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.

Joseph Raleigh, age 34, was sentenced to 46 months in custody, 3 years of supervised release, and a special assessment of $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Raleigh was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 20, 2015, for Attempted Commercial Sex Trafficking of Children and Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet.  He pled guilty to Attempted Trafficking with Respect to Involuntary Servitude and Forced Labor on July 5, 2016.

The conviction arose from an undercover operation conducted in the Pierre, South Dakota, area by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC).  Raleigh responded to an advertisement of a minor available for sexual activities in exchange for money posted on Craigslist on October 16, 2015.  Through email conversations with the undercover ICAC agents, Raleigh negotiated a price and arranged to have a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old girl in Blunt, South Dakota, on October 16, 2015.  Raleigh then met with an undercover agent, who was posing as someone who could provide the girl for sex.  The negotiated price was $400, which Raleigh had in his possession.

This case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the South Dakota ICAC Task Force, and the Pierre Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kirk Albertson and Tim Maher prosecuted the case.

Raleigh was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.