Human Trafficking in Fort Lauderdale: Statute 787.06 Penalties

Human trafficking in Fort Lauderdale is prosecuted under Florida Statute 787.06 as a first-degree felony carrying up to 30 years in prison when the victim is an adult, and as a life felony when the victim is a child.¹ Federal charges frequently run alongside state cases, and victims have independent rights to immigration relief, civil damages, and expungement of criminal records tied to the trafficking. The National Human Trafficking Hotline logged 832 Florida cases in 2024, close to 7% of the national total.²

Florida Penalties Under Statute 787.06

Florida law defines human trafficking as recruiting, harboring, transporting, or otherwise obtaining a person for exploitation through force, fraud, or coercion. The classification and sentence turn on who the victim is and what the exploitation involves.

When the Victim Is an Adult

Coercing an adult into labor, services, or commercial sexual activity is a first-degree felony. A conviction can mean up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.¹³ Moving a victim into Florida from another state for commercial sexual activity can raise the sentence to life even where the victim is an adult.

When the Victim Is a Child

Trafficking anyone under 18 for commercial sexual activity is a life felony. The maximum penalty is life in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.¹ The same classification covers victims who are mentally incapacitated. Prosecutors do not have to prove force, fraud, or coercion when the victim is a minor; the child’s involvement in commercial sex is enough.

Florida’s Safe Harbor Act directs that sexually exploited children be routed through the dependency system as victims rather than charged in delinquency court, with assessment for safe-house placement and recovery services.

Federal Charges That Often Follow

Federal prosecutors can bring parallel charges, and federal mandatory minimums are often what drive the final sentence.

Under 18 U.S.C. 1591, sex trafficking that involves force, fraud, or coercion, or a victim under 14, carries a mandatory minimum of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of life.⁴ For victims aged 14 to 17 where no force was used, the mandatory minimum is 10 years with a maximum of life.

Forced labor charges under 18 U.S.C. 1589 carry up to 20 years. That maximum rises to life if the victim dies as a result of the trafficking, or if the offense involves kidnapping or aggravated sexual abuse.⁵

Federal courts must also order restitution covering the victim’s full losses, measured as the greater of the trafficker’s gross income from the exploitation or the value of the victim’s labor calculated at minimum wage and overtime rates.⁶

What Victims Can Do

Trafficking victims have rights that run independently from the criminal case against their trafficker. These matter most for victims who hesitate to come forward because of immigration status, a criminal record built up while under a trafficker’s control, or the need for financial recovery.

Staying in the Country Legally

The T visa allows a trafficking victim to remain lawfully in the United States. To qualify, you must be a victim of a severe form of trafficking, be physically present in the country because of the trafficking, cooperate with reasonable law enforcement requests, and show that removal would cause extreme hardship.⁷ Victims under 18, and those unable to cooperate because of physical or psychological trauma, can qualify without the law enforcement cooperation requirement.

While a T visa application is pending, law enforcement can request Continued Presence for a cooperating victim. Continued Presence is a two-year status, renewable in two-year increments, that authorizes legal employment and access to federal benefits and services.⁸

Suing the Trafficker

Federal law gives victims the right to file a civil lawsuit. Under 18 U.S.C. 1595, a victim can sue the trafficker or anyone who knowingly benefited financially from the trafficking and recover damages plus reasonable attorney fees.⁹ Florida Statute 787.061 adds a state-level cause of action that allows recovery of economic damages, noneconomic damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees in certain cases.¹⁰

Clearing a Criminal Record

Many victims pick up arrests or convictions, often for prostitution or trespassing, while under a trafficker’s control. Florida Statute 943.0583 allows a survivor to petition for expungement of any arrest, charge, or conviction for an offense directly connected to the trafficking. Once expungement is granted, most criminal justice agencies must destroy the physical records. There is no fixed waiting period; the statute requires only that the trafficking has ended and that the petition is filed with reasonable diligence.

Recognizing Trafficking in Fort Lauderdale

Victims rarely identify themselves. Several warning signs appearing together in the same person is what matters, not any single one on its own.

Physical signs include unexplained bruising, untreated injuries, extreme fatigue, or visible malnutrition. Some victims carry tattoos or branding marks signaling ownership by a trafficker, sometimes disguised as decorative tattoos in unusual spots like the neck, chest, or inner wrist.

Behavioral signs point to control. A person may appear fearful or unusually submissive, especially around another individual who speaks for them or directs their responses. Rehearsed-sounding answers about work or living arrangements, and extreme deference to a companion who is not a family member, are among the clearest warnings.

Situational clues involve the conditions of daily life:

No access to their own identification, passport, money, or phone.
Unusually long work hours without breaks or days off.
Overcrowded or substandard employer-provided housing.
Inability to say where they are or what city they are in.
Clothing that does not fit the work or the weather.

How to Report Suspected Trafficking

If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. Do not try to confront a suspected trafficker or intervene directly, because trafficking situations frequently involve violence and unpredictable reactions.

For non-emergency tips, the National Human Trafficking Hotline runs 24 hours at 1-888-373-7888, or text “BEFREE” to 233733. The hotline operates in more than 200 languages and connects callers with local service providers.¹¹ Florida’s state line is 855-FLA-SAFE (855-352-7233), which routes tips directly to law enforcement.¹²

Locally, trafficking crimes are investigated by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Survivors in Broward County can get direct support through the Nancy J. Cotterman Center’s Human Trafficking Program, which provides 24-hour crisis counseling, needs assessments, advocacy at judicial proceedings, and coordination with legal aid, immigration assistance, and emergency shelter.¹³ 211 Broward handles broader referrals, and No More Tears provides emergency assistance.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code Title XLVI Chapter 787 – Human Trafficking
2
National Human Trafficking Hotline. National Statistics
3
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 775.082 – Penalties, Applicability of Sentencing Structures, Mandatory Minimum Sentences
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1591 – Sex Trafficking of Children or by Force, Fraud, or Coercion
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1589 – Forced Labor
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1593 – Mandatory Restitution
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Victims of Human Trafficking – T Nonimmigrant Status
8
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Continued Presence Pamphlet – Human Trafficking
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1595 – Civil Remedy
10
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 787.061 – Human Trafficking Victim Expungement and Civil Cause of Action
11
National Human Trafficking Hotline. Contact Us
12
Florida Department of Health. Human Trafficking
13
Broward County. Nancy J. Cotterman Center Human Trafficking