Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Lawrence Winslow and Alan Velvett were each sentenced today to 10 years in prison for sex trafficking of a child and rape. The defendants forced three underaged victims into the sex industry in February 2021. One of the victims was coerced into having intercourse with both defendants.

District Attorney Katz said: “My office takes a wholistic approach to working with victims of human traffickers. The first part of the process is to hold the traffickers accountable for their actions. I created the Human Trafficking Bureau when I took office to take predators like these off of our streets. We will continue to be relentless in this mission.”

Winslow, 28, of East High Street in Coaldale, Penn., and Velvett, 29, of Roscoe Street in Jamaica, Queens, each pleaded guilty in November to three counts of sex trafficking of a child and one count of rape in the first degree. Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone, Jr. today imposed 10-year prison sentences, to be followed by 10 years post-release supervision. Winslow and Velvett will also be required to register as sex offenders upon release.

According to the charges, in February 2021 the defendants met two girls, aged 13 and 14, at La Quinta Inn on Queens Boulevard. The defendants took nude photos of the girls and posted the images online, stating that the girls were “for sale.” One of the teenagers had sex with a stranger and the defendants kept all the money from the exchange.

Also in February 2021, Winslow and Velvett met a 15-year-old girl at the La Quinta Inn. Winslow took semi-nude photos of the child and posted them online as advertisements. The 15-year-old was forced to have sex with Winslow and then with a string of strangers who paid cash to have sex with the girl. All the money was pocketed by the defendants.

Afterwards, the victim was relocated to the JFK Inn, where she was forced to have intercourse with Velvett and then with cash-paying strangers. All the proceeds from the exchanges were kept by the defendants.

The teenager was rescued when an undercover police officer responded to the online ad and met with the girl in person in one of the hotel rooms. Velvett was arrested after arriving in the room and Winslow was arrested after being located in another room across the hall.

Assistant District Attorney Kiran Cheema, of the District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Bureau prosecuted the case with the assistance of Trial Prep Assistants Hailey Behl and Bianca Suazo, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Jessica Melton, Bureau Chief, Tara DiGregorio, Deputy Chief and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Gerard A. Brave.