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A man identified as the enforcer in an Albuquerque sex trafficking ring was sentenced this week by a federal judge to 18 years in prison.
Matthew “Stacks” Woods, 32, admitted in his plea agreement that his role in the sex-trafficking ring was to punish female victims, including minors, who failed to comply with orders, according to court records.
Woods’ “role in the operation was to inflict violence in order to manage and coerce the female victims,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Letitia Simms and Jack Burkhead wrote in Woods’ sentencing memorandum.
The method used by the ring was “to beat, drug, and otherwise coerce women, some of them juveniles, to engage in sexual acts” for the financial gain of the ring leaders, they wrote.
Cornelius “Chip” Galloway, identified as the leader of the ring, was sentenced in 2020 to 17 years in prison.
“The additional year for Mr. Woods is warranted due to his extreme violence against the victims,” the sentencing memorandum said. The plea agreement spares victims from having to testify in court, it said.
Galloway admitted in his plea agreement that the ring advertised prostitution online, rented hotel rooms, and arranged clients by phone from October 2016 to February 2017.
A third co-conspirator, Marcus “Taylor Made” Taylor, was sentenced in 2021 to eight years in prison. All three pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.