Savannah man accused of drug, sex trafficking gets 30 years

SAVANNAH, Ga. - A Georgia man who prosecutors say operated a sex and drug trafficking business has been sentenced to serve more than three decades in prison.

Anthony Wilson Jackson, 50, led a scheme to carry out sex trafficking across the country and shipped and distributed large quantities of marijuana around Savannah, federal prosecutors said. He was sentenced Thursday to serve 30 years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to numerous federal charges.

"Anthony Jackson is a violent serial criminal who profited from trafficking drugs and renting human beings for sex acts," Acting U.S. Attorney David Estes said in a news release.

Investigators began looking into Jackson in 2016 while investigating the death of Ava Fulmer, a woman who worked for him and whose body was found inside a burned vehicle in Savannah, prosecutors said. Her death remains under investigation.

Jackson threatened to murder women whom he trafficked for sex, forced them to bow and pray to him and was violently abusive, prosecutors said. During the investigation, authorities seized drugs, drug trafficking paraphernalia, multiple guns, ammunition and more than $7,000 in cash.

"This man was connected to multiple facets of illegal activity that contribute to crime and safety concerns in our community, from guns to drugs to sex crimes," Savannah Police Chief Roy Minter said in the release. "Putting an end to his time on our streets is one more step toward a safer Savannah."

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