Last night, an Ascension Parish jury found both 21-year-old Jayden Hodge of Dallas, TX and 23-year-old Antonio Jackson of Phoenix, AZ guilty as charged of Human Trafficking – victim under the age of 21 (2 counts) and Human Trafficking – victim under the age of 18 (1 count) each. These defendants were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Philip Prescott and Blake Sheets. Presiding over this matter is the Honorable Judge Jason Verdigets. 

        On September 19, 2024, Texas Department of Public Safety was in the process of locating a missing 13-year-old female. During the course of this investigation, investigators located online postings indicating that the juvenile female was being prostituted in the city of Gonzales. This information was circulated to the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Louisiana State Police. Federal agents along with investigators with the Louisiana State Police Special Victims Unit and Gonzales Police Department converged on a Gonzales hotel and successfully located the juvenile female. Investigators learned that the juvenile female along with two other females under the age of 21 were transported from Texas for the purpose of prostitution. All three female victims were recruited, harbored, and solicited by these suspects for financial gain. Both Hodge and Jackson were taken into custody and booked into the Ascension Parish Jail. 

         Upon the jury returning a guilty verdict in the matter, sentencing was deferred to a later date. The charge of Human Trafficking of a victim under the age of 18 alone carries a mandatory life sentence.