MIAMI (WSVN) - A Maryland rapper accused of human trafficking has been stopped and brought back to South Florida after his alleged victim was rescued, authorities said.
On Thursday morning, Monriko Mequel Clements, also known King Swuice, faced a judge as his attorney attempted to get his client to serve his house arrest in his home state.
Clements was arrested in Maryland by the Miami-Date State Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force.
Investigators said Clements met a 23-year-old woman online and brought her to South Florida to sell her body so he could keep the cash.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle addressed Clements’ arrest and provided further details during a news conference held Thursday afternoon.
“The victim stated that she made approximately $20,000 in these sex stays for the subject. The subject kept all the money,” she said.
Investigators said the alleged victim met Clements on social media. Not long after, he started advertising her services and setting up dates.
“To him, this woman was cash on high heels,” said Fernandez Rundle.
Fernandez Rundle said the alleged victim’s body tattooed with the suspect’s name.
“To show that the victim is a possession, owned by that trafficker,” she said.
Investigators said the woman threw herself from a moving vehicle to get away from the suspect and get the attention of police.
Clements faces one count of human trafficking, a first-degree felony, and one count of deriving support from proceeds of prostitution, a second-degree felony.
Clements’ bond was set at $45,000.
“A modern-day form of slavery, it does exist as human trafficking,” said Fernandez Rundle, “a crime that will not stop without law enforcement and community involvement.”
David Donet, his attorney, requested a reduction of his client’s bond.
But Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer did not agree to many of the requests made.
“Of course, he cannot [serve his arrest in Maryland]; he has to be in Miami-Dade County,” she said.
Music videos show Clements as King Swuice surrounded by women and flashing stacks of cash.
Prosecutors said this crime was not Clements’ first run-in with the law.
They said he had a non-extraditable warrant from Los Angeles, along with prior failures to appear in court out of Georgia and Maryland, emphasizing his lack of a clean record.
If Clements bonds out of jail, he will be on house arrest. That means he will have to find a place in South Florida to live.
Authorities said the alleged victim, a mother of two, is doing well and recovering.
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