Milwaukee sex trafficker sentenced to nearly 22 years

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Morrell D. Johnson recently admitted he preyed on drug-addicted women and forced them to perform sex acts on multiple men for money as part of a human-trafficking operation he ran on Milwaukee’s south side.

Now, he’s going to prison for nearly 22 years. U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller handed down the sentence Feb. 6.

Federal prosecutors say in court papers that Johnson, 35, sold heroin, cocaine and fentanyl from various trap houses throughout the city and recruited women for his prostitution enterprise.

Johnson pleaded guilty in November to sex trafficking involving six adults maintaining a drug-involved premise and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel described human trafficking as “modern-day slavery,” and said Johnson’s sentence should signal the community is free from “a truly evil predator.”

“This kind of behavior is abhorrent,” Schimel told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Human trafficking wraps up all the things that we as a society are concerned with − violence, drug trafficking, manipulation.”

Prosecutors said in court papers Johnson manipulated his victims by promising them housing, protection and reliable access to more drugs.

Court records say Johnson set up operations in at least three homes − on the 8500 block of North Granville Road, on the 3200 block of West Becher Street and the 7200 block of South 21st Street − where he distributed heroin, cocaine and fentanyl.

In 2022, a woman identified in court papers as “AV-1” told investigators she attended a “smoke out” at the home on Becher that was hosted by someone known as “Money.”

AV-1 was addicted to crack cocaine and she agreed to help Money, whom authorities later identified as Johnson, recruit other women for sex trade.

Schimel credited the victims with having the courage to testify and provide prosecutors with “invaluable help” in building their cases.

“Without them, we wouldn’t have had a leg to stand on,” Schimel said.

Trafficking victims were beaten by Morrell Johnson if they didn’t bring in enough money

At one point as many as 15 women worked for Johnson, who used their addictions as leverage over them.

The women who worked for Johnson were given quotas; they needed to earn $1,200 a day and had to bring him the money at the end of the day.

If they failed to meet the quota, they were severely beaten.

Johnson forced the women to turn over their tax returns, COVID-19 stimulus checks and annual tribal stipends to him, court papers show.

According to court records, one woman was forced against a wall by her neck and threatened at gunpoint, with the barrel of the weapon jammed in her mouth.

Johnson punished another woman by stripping her naked, beating her, having her sexually assaulted by multiple men, and imprisoning her in a dog cage.

In another instance, Johnson shot and killed a dog belonging to one of the victims in front of her to prove his resolve.

Many of the dates were arranged on websites, and the women were made to work in Milwaukee, Racine, Waukegan and Chicago.

Johnson was on community supervision after serving a prison sentence for a prior Kenosha County heroin distribution conviction at the time.

In 2024, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received a total of 32,309 substantive signals nationwide and received reports of 11,999 potential human trafficking cases referencing 21,865 potential victims.

The hotline works with service providers, law enforcement and other professionals, and says that in Wisconsin it has identified more than 1,100 cases of human trafficking since its 2007 creation. In that time, more than 2,200 victims in the state were identified in those cases.