According to facts presented in the appellate record, in March 2004, Derek Roberts booked a trip with Costa Rica Taboo Vacations, a fake travel agency set up by federal law enforcement to catch U.S. citizens traveling abroad for the purposes of engaging in commercial sex with minors. The fake agency offered the services of "tourist companions" as young as 14-years old. The defendant booked and paid for a trip with the agency, including arrangements to engage in sex with underage girls. He eventually cancelled the trip; however, he did arrange to meet with underage Costa Rican girls at a hotel in Miami. Roberts was arrested when he arrived at the hotel. Roberts was convicted by a federal jury of attempting to exploit a minor for commercial sex, and was sentenced to 37 months imprisonment.
First, Roberts argued that the district court abused its discretion by denying his motion for a bill of particulars as to how his offense conduct affected interstate commerce because that element was alleged too generally in the indictment to adequately advise him of the charges he faced. Second, he argued that the evidence was insufficient to prove that his offense affected interstate commerce. Third, he contended that the district court erred in not granting his motion for a judgment of acquittal on the basis that he was entrapped as a matter of law. The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit did not find merit in these arguments and affirmed the judgment of the district court in 2006.
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
http://www.law.umich.edu/clinical/HuTrafficCases/Pages/CaseDisp.aspx?caseID=145
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca11/05-12217/200512217-2011-02-28.html
