TAMPA, Fla. (KTVU) Sheriff Chad Chronister says a new Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office human trafficking task force completed their first undercover sting operation, resulting in 125 arrests.
The 20-day sting, dubbed ‘Operation Round-Up,’ also resulted in freeing four women and one teenager from the trafficking industry, Chronister said.
Among the arrests were Joel Velasco, identified by the sheriff as a teacher at an unspecified Hillsborough school, and Samuel Phillips Jr., a pastor at Be Limitless Church in Riverview. Both were charged with soliciting another to commit prostitution.