A sex trafficking charge can destroy your life before you ever step into a courtroom. Attorney RJ Suzuki is a former Assistant United States Attorney, and our Glendale sex crimes lawyers have been defending the accused in Arizona courts since 2007.
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Arizona Punishes Sex Trafficking More Severely Than Other Felonies
Sex trafficking charges in Arizona carry some of the harshest penalties in the entire criminal code. These cases receive intense public and political attention, which often pushes prosecutors to seek the most aggressive sentence possible. Your Glendale criminal defense lawyer will help you understand how these penalties apply to your case and what options you have to fight back.
Prison Sentencing Under Arizona’s Dangerous Crimes Statutes
If you are charged, the possible prison sentence depends heavily on whether the case involves a minor. For adult-related trafficking charges, the penalty starts at 7 years and can go as high as 21 years for a first offense.
Long-Term Supervision and Registry Rules After Conviction
If you are convicted, the punishment does not end after prison. You may be required to register as a sex offender for life and follow strict rules about where you can live, work, and travel. Probation, if available at all, comes with heavy restrictions on internet use, contact with others, and movement outside your home.
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Get StartedInvestigators Often Use Surveillance and Third-Party Testimony
Police and prosecutors use more than just one witness or report when they build a trafficking case. They might start with a tip, then pull your phone records or social media messages to look for anything they believe suggests a connection to commercial sex.
Investigators can also use recorded jail calls, texts, or location data to track your movements or identify who you were with. In some cases, they rely on confidential informants or interview friends, former partners, or hotel staff to fill in the blanks. This type of evidence can be used to argue that you facilitated or promoted a trafficking offense.
Even with all this, the state’s case is not always solid. Witnesses can be pressured or misled, and their stories might change over time, or messages pulled out of context can sound worse than they really are. A big part of our job is to look at how that information was collected and whether it proves what the prosecution says it does. If the story they are telling does not match the facts, we will make that clear.
Lawyer Near Me 602-682-5270Financial or Travel Data Can Be Used to Infer Intent
In many sex trafficking cases, there is no single moment that the prosecution points to. Instead, they rely on patterns. You might have hotel receipts, rideshare records, or bank withdrawals that seem unrelated to anything criminal. Prosecutors may claim those things were part of a plan to traffic someone, even if there was no direct exchange or illegal activity caught on camera.
They treat these patterns like a puzzle that only fits one way, even when other explanations exist. It is important to note that these cases often hinge on what the prosecution thinks you meant to do. They use these pieces to argue that you had intent, even if nothing illegal actually happened.
Your Glendale sex trafficking defense attorney from Suzuki Law Offices will go through every detail to show there is more to the story. Just because the state believes something does not make it true, and we are here to challenge the assumptions behind their case.
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Arizona Charges and Penalties for Sex Trafficking Offenses
If you have been accused of sex trafficking, you are probably feeling confused, scared, and unsure of what the state is claiming you did wrong. Arizona law under A.R.S. § 13-1307 and A.R.S. § 13-3212 defines sex trafficking as causing someone to engage in prostitution through force, fraud, or coercion.
Even if you believe the situation was misunderstood, the police and prosecutors may try to say your actions crossed the line. If a minor is involved, the charges become even more serious. The law does not care whether you knew the person’s age or whether they appeared to agree with what happened.
When someone under 18 is involved, the state automatically treats it as a Class 2 felony, and they do not have to prove force or threats were used. For a first offense involving a minor, you could be looking at 10 to 24 years in prison. Repeat offenses or additional allegations can increase the sentence even further. Our team will guide you through the meaning of these charges.
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Potential Flaws in a Sex Trafficking Investigation
When police rush through an investigation or assume the worst from the outset, mistakes are more likely to occur. In cases like yours, those mistakes can result in serious charges that should never have been filed in the first place.
You might be surprised by how many of these cases fall apart when you examine the details closely. Here are some of the problems we often see:
- False identity or mistaken involvement
- Misinterpretation of text messages
- Pressured or incentivized witness statements
- Inaccurate financial tracking
- Poorly conducted sting operations
- Lack of direct communication with alleged victims
- Social media involvement with no criminal context
- Unlawful search or seizure
- Incomplete or missing surveillance footage
- Misuse of third-party statements
- Flawed digital record analysis
- Over-reliance on circumstantial patterns
Any one of these issues can be enough to raise serious doubt about the state’s case. Our Glendale sex trafficking defense lawyers can take the time to review every step of the investigation and ask whether the evidence actually supports what it claims to prove. By spotting problems early, we can start taking control of the situation before it spirals further.
Contact a Sex Trafficking Defense Lawyer in Glendale Today
If you were arrested for sex trafficking, there is a good chance the investigation started long before you even knew. Prosecutors in Arizona often rely on digital evidence, outside statements, and financial records to try to piece together a story. These tools help them build cases that look convincing, even when there are gaps in what actually happened.
If you are facing sex trafficking charges, you need a defense attorney who knows how to shut these cases down before they gain traction. Your sex trafficking defense attorney in Glendale with Suzuki Law Offices is here to listen to your side, advise you of your legal options, and act quickly to build a powerful defense. Contact us today to schedule a confidential consultation and find out what we can do to protect your future.
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