Suburban Chicago Woman Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking of a Child

CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago woman has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for recruiting and enticing a child to engage in commercial sex acts.

In November 2021, JAMARI HODGE recruited and enticed a 13-year-old girl to engage in commercial sex acts. Hodge took sexually explicit photographs of the victim and posted them in online advertisements offering the commercial sex. Hodge then rented hotel rooms in Illinois and Indiana to use for encounters with individuals who responded to the advertisements. Hodge set the prices and collected the payments from customers after the encounters.

Hodge, 29, of Calumet City, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to a federal charge of enticing a minor to engage in commercial sex. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold on Wednesday ordered Hodge to pay $180,000 in restitution to the victim.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert W. "Wes" Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. Valuable assistance was provided by the Lansing, Ill., Police Department, Calumet City, Ill. Police Department, and Richton Park, Ill., Police Department. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Kelly.

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.