MADISON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - A Madison man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and selling flakka.
The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida said that Joseph Michael Elias McFarland, 22, was sentenced to 11 years behind bars on Thursday.
The Madison County Sheriff's Office said that back in September 2015, they discovered that McFarland was involved in sex trafficking of a minor.
They said that at some point a confidential source had met with him to buy drugs. During the meeting, McFarland told the source that he was prostituting a girl he claimed was either 17 or 18 years old.
However, investigators said that he knew the girl was only 16. They said that the drugs the confidential source had bought had all tested positive for Alpha-PVP or flakka.
McFarland also contacted the source to discuss prostituting the victim and also sent pictures of the victim.
When deputies searched the house where McFarland was selling drugs, they found the teenage victim hiding in a closet. They also found guns, ammunition, digital scales, and drug paraphernalia.
Officials say that McFarland plead guilty on May 9, 2016.
MCSO said that they will continue to work closely with our Federal Law Enforcement and Prosecuting partners as well as all local Law Enforcement Agencies to ensure that all persons who choose to victimize the citizens of Madison County are investigated, arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
