Violent Sex Trafficker Sentenced to 28 Years in Federal Prison

CHICAGO - A Chicago man has been sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for violently sex trafficking five young victims, including a 15-year-old girl, and kidnapping two of them.

DENNIS WILLIAMS used threats, violence, drugs, and other coercive means to force five victims to engage in commercial sex. Williams often restrained or assaulted the victims to force them to comply and turn over the proceeds to him. Williams also caused a 17-year-old girl, whom he also assaulted repeatedly, to assist him in trafficking the victims. Williams ran his sex trafficking operation out of his Chicago residence and motels in Lansing, Ill., in 2022 and 2023.

Last year, a jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago convicted Williams, 33, on all seven sex trafficking and kidnapping counts against him. All five of Williams' victims, including both of the kidnapping victims, bravely testified about their ordeals at trial.

U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland imposed the 28-year prison sentence during a hearing on Feb. 4, 2026, in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. Valuable assistance was provided by the Lansing, Ill. Police Department, Chicago Police Department, Evergreen Park, Ill. Police Department, Joliet, Ill. Police Department, Manhattan, Ill. Police Department, Orland Park, Ill. Police Department, Palos Heights, Ill. Police Department, Cook County Sheriff's Office, Illinois State Police, and Illinois Attorney General's Office.

"Williams' crimes were violent, exploitative, and incredibly serious," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sushma Raju and Michelle Parthum argued in the government's sentencing memorandum. "Although the young women and girls that he victimized are now free of defendant's grasp, the harm that he inflicted on them is likely to reverberate throughout the rest of their lives in the form of increased risk of mental illness and other struggles."

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to https://www.missingkids.comLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. or by calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.