Bissonnet sex trafficker “Glizzy” imprisoned for forcing teenage girls to engage in sex acts

HOUSTON – A 23-year-old man has been sentenced for conspiring to traffic a minor for commercial sex, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani.

Javon Yaw Opoku aka “Glizzy” pleaded guilty June 7, 2023.

U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks Jr has now sentenced Opoku to 365 months in federal prison. In handing down the prison term, the court noted the duty to the people Opoku harmed and that he had forfeited the right to be around other members of society for a very long time. Restitution will be determined at a later date. Opoku will serve 10 years on supervised release following completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Opoku will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

“Opoku spent years exploiting and victimizing little girls and other vulnerable members of our community,” said Hamdani. “Opoku will now spend the next 30+ years away from our community, unable to continue his exploitation and victimization of our daughters and neighbors.

From April 2019 to February 2020, Opoku and co-conspirators recruited young teenage girls and forced them to engage in sex acts with clients for money in cars and hotels around the Bissonnet “blade.”

The blade or “track” is an area near 59 Southwest Freeway and Bissonnet Street in Houston where traffickers commonly place their victims to engage in commercial sex.

Opoku and co-conspirators passed around or reassigned victims amongst one another, taught each other “the pimp game,” forced the young girls to walk the blade while Opoku and others kept the proceeds.

The young girls were required to pay an exit fee or get “beat out” to switch between pimps. Some traffickers required daily quotas each night from their victims. If the victims failed to meet their daily quotas, they were severely punished through beatings and humiliation.

Co-conspirator Jerreck Michael Hilliard aka “Jmoney” was sentenced April 12 to 292 months in federal prison.

Opoku will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Houston Police Department initiated the investigation with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office as a part of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA). Established in 2004, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Houston formed HTRA to combine resources with federal, state and local enforcement agencies and prosecutors, as well as non-governmental service organizations to target human traffickers while providing necessary services to those that the traffickers victimized. Since its inception, HTRA has been recognized as both a national and international model in identifying and assisting victims of human trafficking and prosecuting those engaged in trafficking offenses.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) Kate Suh and Anthony Franklyn prosecuted the case along with former AUSA Richard Bennett.