Sex trafficker gets over 21 years in prison

The father of one of Willie Woods’ victims described the convicted sex trafficker in federal court Tuesday as a “monster.”

But U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman noted the 46-year-old’s apparently monstrous childhood — including, at one point, being tossed into a dog house — as she decided that he deserved to have some life after prison. Coleman sentenced Woods to 21½ years behind bars.

Noting Woods’ insistence he was a bit player in the sex ring that brought teenage girls from Iowa to Chicago and forced them into prostitution, Coleman said he participated willingly.

“If he didn’t want anything to do with it, he could have left at any time,” Coleman said. She said his participation allowed him to “drive nice cars” and “sample the wares.”

Woods’ face revealed no emotion when he was sentenced.

Last November, a jury found Woods, of Toledo, Ohio, guilty of one count of sex trafficking conspiracy; three counts of sex trafficking of minors by force, fraud or coercion; one count of transporting minors to engage in prostitution; and one count of obstruction of justice.

Woods helped transport a 14-year-old girl and two 16-year-old girls from Iowa City to Chicago in 2012, prosecutors said. When they arrived in Chicago, Woods and two co-conspirators forced the girls to engage in prostitution.

The three forced the victims to work as prostitutes in Iowa and Chicago, and they took pictures of them to use in advertisements on websites such as Backpage, prosecutors said. When “dates” responded to ads, the traffickers would arrange meetings with the girls and keep the money.

But in court Tuesday, Woods said he had been set up.

“This is all made up stuff. . . . Prostitution was never my thing. My background: I mostly stole cars,” he said.

The father of one of the victims testified in court, saying: “It’s unbelievable there is a monster out there prowling the streets to take advantage of young, innocent minds.”

The father said his daughter, who sat in court during the sentencing, is “still battling daily” with the trauma of what happened to her.

Prosecutors sought at least 30 years, saying Woods needs to be locked up until he is an old man.

“He made money by literally buying and selling human beings,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Bethany Biesenthal said.