ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orange County woman will spend the rest of her life in prison after being convicted of human trafficking.
Shana Bryant, 38, was sentenced Tuesday, after being convicted earlier this month of using runaways from the foster care system and coercing them to commit sex acts for money.
Human trafficking of a minor carries a mandatory life sentence for each count.
Bryant was arrested in December 2021 after a 15-year-old runaway turned up at Dr. Phillips Hospital earlier in the year. The Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation took over the case when they realized she was a victim of human trafficking.
Investigators said Bryant and two others would approach runaways and offer them a hotel room to stay in, but then they would be coerced into sex acts with paying customers. The MBI said Bryant would force the victims to consume alcohol or drugs if they refused to work.
The two other suspects, Tracy Koger and Tyrell Ponds, were arrested in February.
Koger pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit human trafficking and unlawful use of a two-way communication device in September. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ponds’ trial is set for Jan. 22.
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