Women freed from prison in exchange for sex with a slave used a code: Statement

A bail bondsman is accused of using his position to bail women out of jail in exchange for sex, authorities said.

Russell “Bruce” Moncrief, 75, of Cocoa, Florida, is charged with racketeering and human trafficking, Attorney General Ashley Moody of the State Attorney’s Office announced in a statement. press release on Tuesday, October 29.

The Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation alleges that Moncrief, owner of Moncrief Bail Bonds in Central Florida, used his position as a bail bondsman “to target female inmates at the Orange County Jail and others on prostitution and/or drug charges and offered victims bail in exchange for sex ” – says the prosecutor’s office.

Moncrief allegedly “tied up female inmates in exchange for sex,” prosecutors said, adding: “The defendant even offered bail in exchange for sex from someone outside the prison.” Prosecutors also alleged that Moncrief “sold the women he became involved with to other buyers.”

According to an arrest affidavit reviewed by PEOPLE, the women alleged that Moncrief used code words, including in one case allegedly telling an inmate to call him and say she would “wash his car and lick his eyebrows” to get out of jail.

The affidavit states that one woman who called Moncrief claimed that he posted bail for her, picked her up from jail, and in return performed a sexual favor for him in his car.

Additionally, Moncrief “used threats to void, levy or violate” his bonds “as a form of force, fraud or coercion,” Moody alleged in the release, adding that “the defendant used his position as a bail bondsman to prey on women in the criminal justice system.”

“After bailing his victims out of prison, he continued to use his power over them to sell women to others for sex for his own financial gain. Working with MBI, we uncovered this disgusting scheme and will prosecute the defendant on charges of human trafficking and racketeering,” Moody continued in the release.

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According to Florida todayThe MBI began investigating Moncrief in October 2021 following the April 2020 arrest of former defense attorney John Gillespie on human trafficking charges. However, Orange County court documents show that he was found incompetent after pleading guilty.

“Gillespie’s victims allegedly engaged in sexual acts with Moncrief,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Moncrief was arrested by the Orange County Fugitive Unit and held without bond.

According to the prosecutor’s office, “he was charged with three counts of commercial sex trafficking, one count of racketeering and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device to facilitate the commission of a crime. In total, Moncrief faces four “first-degree felonies” and one third-degree “felony.”

If found guilty, he faces up to 125 years in prison, according to the release, which noted that Mary Sammon is prosecuting the case.

As of Thursday, Oct. 31, it was unclear whether Moncrief had retained a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.