A jury found him guilty of holding women in Manatee County against their will, giving them drugs and forcing them to prostitute themselves.

A man has been convicted of holding women against their will and forcing them to prostitute themselves in Manatee County.

According to the office of Ed Brodsky, state attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit, a jury on March 8 found Juan Cruz Jr., 43, guilty of two counts of human trafficking and four counts of deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution.

Throughout 2017, Cruz offered several women who were homeless and addicted to heroin a place to stay, food and drugs. He then told them that they had to work for him because they owed him for the housing and drugs.



Cruz set up “dates” with men online and gave the women heroin and crack in exchange for them having sexual encounters. Cruz never gave any of the money to the women, instead using it to purchase drugs for them.

Cruz, a registered sex offender and felon, was arrested in November 2017 after one of the women escaped and reported him to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

"Human trafficking is modern day slavery," the lead prosecutor, Ashley Dusnik, said in a news release.

Cruz faces a maximum sentence of 120 years. A sentencing date has not been set.