Haitian national sentenced to prison for trafficking four victims

BOSTON – A Haitian national was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Boston for sex trafficking four victims out of his residences in Dracut and Malden.

Reginald Abraham, 51, who previously resided in Dracut, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William G. Young to 21 years and 10 months in prison and 15 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $728,000 in restitution to the four victims. Abraham will face deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence.

In July 2019, Abraham was convicted by a federal jury of four counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. He was charged and arrested on Sept. 6, 2017, and has been in federal custody since.

Law enforcement began investigating Abraham in January 2017 after learning about his trafficking operations from several victims. Abraham approached his victims, usually through social media, and began communicating with them in an effort to convince them to live with him. He eventually picked up his victims, all from Maine, and drove them to his residence in Malden, and later Dracut. After arriving at his home, Abraham forced the women into prostitution throughout New England. He maintained his control over these victims through the use of physical violence, threats, rape, and giving and withholding drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine. Abraham trafficked the victims from 2012 through 2016.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Jason Molina, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Portland (Maine) Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Dracut and Portland Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leah B. Foley and Stephen W. Hassink of Lelling’s Civil Rights Enforcement Team prosecuted case.