A convicted pimp was sentenced to 50 years in prison today for using violence and threats to force underage girls and vulnerable women to “walk a track” – slang for working as prostitutes on West Side streets.
The sentence was believed to be the harshest penalty ever handed down to a convicted sex trafficker in Chicago’s federal court.
According to prosecutors, Datqunn Sawyer will be 74 before he is released from federal prison.
A federal jury convicted him in November of sex trafficking charges.
Prosecutors said he victimized women and girls who were homeless, runaways or mentally ill. He enticed them with false promises of love but then quickly turned violent to keep them under his control.
One victim was only 12, and another still carried a teddy bear with her at times.
Three of the victims testified at the sentencing, recounting the physical and emotional abuse.
The woman who was forced into prostitution at 12 is now 19. Another who spoke had a child by Sawyer.
Sawyer cried as he told the judge he never knew some of the victims were underage. His supporters blamed the victims for Sawyer’s troubles
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