Fort Pierce - Thursday June 22, 2023: A federal grand jury in Fort Pierce has returned an indictment charging 46-year-old Shannima Yuantrell Session with 10 counts of sex trafficking.
Session is also known as Shalamar. He is from Lake Placid Florida.
According to court documents, between 2011 and 2019, Session allegedly trafficked 10 female victims, 7 adults and 3 minors. It is alleged that Session recruited his victims through violence and threats, among other things; including offers of drugs, employment, and romantic relationships. Once Session had gained compliance from his victims, he then trafficked them for sex primarily in rural areas of Highlands County for his own profit.
If convicted, Session faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, as well as a maximum of lifetime supervised release. Session is being held in custody pending trial.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, and Sheriff Paul Blackman of Highlands County Sheriff’s Office made the announcement.
FBI Miami and Highlands County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Hoover and Trial Attorneys Leah Branch and Elizabeth Hutson of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting it.
An indictment contains mere allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.