Woman accused of sex trafficking out of home in Pembroke Pines

A human sex trafficking operation allegedly run by a woman out of a Pembroke Pines home was uncovered after a victim said she intentionally overdosed in order to escape, according to an affidavit from probable cause.

The investigation began in 2022, and Attorney General Ashley Moody's office announced Friday that the statewide prosecution office had charged Elise Mizrachi, the woman accused of leading the operation, on two counts of human trafficking charges. OSP will pursue the case.

At Memorial West Hospital in late November 2022, a victim told Pembroke Pines police that she overdosed on fentanyl to escape and threw her cell phone out the window while riding in a car a few days earlier to preserve evidence of trafficking. it was on it, according to a probable cause affidavit for Mizrachi's arrest.

A police officer searched the area where the woman said she threw the phone, but did not find it. The phone was found at a home in Miramar after officers contacted T-Mobile to “ping” its location, according to the affidavit. The owner of the Miramar house told police he had picked it up during a walk a few days earlier.

The victim told police where to find photo and video evidence over the phone. Officers found a photo of a woman with blood on her face. The victim told officers that the woman in the photo, another victim, was hit because she refused to engage in sexual acts for money that day, according to the affidavit.

“The photo was shown to her and the other women as an intimidation factor into compliance,” the affidavit states.

Mizrachi, 41, and the woman who escaped met through a man in Miami identified as “Roy” in the affidavit. The woman lived under a bridge with other women, the affidavit states. “Roy” gave the woman drugs at his home and she began living there, the affidavit states.

As many as 30 other people lived there at times, engaging in the sex trade to pay for drugs, the affidavit states.

After meeting Mizrachi, the woman moved to her home in the 1500 block of Southwest 97th Terrace. Several other women lived in the house, where Mizrachi supplied them with fentanyl and heroin and ran the trafficking operation, the affidavit states.

Mizrachi suggested the woman move to a house in Homestead that the woman said was more dangerous than Mizrachi's or Roy's. The woman asked Mizrachi if she could have fentanyl before the move, and she deliberately ingested the entire bag, the affidavit states.

“She said she would rather not live than be sent to the house,” the affidavit states.

This woman's escape and report to police led Pembroke Pines police to obtain a search warrant for the Pembroke Pines home, which was searched on November 28, 2022. Numerous cell phones were seized from the home and officers saw evidence of drug use there. according to the affidavit.

Officers found Mizrachi at the home and she agreed to speak with them. She was found with drugs in her bra that day and was arrested on drug and weapons charges. She denied prostitution was taking place outside the home, the affidavit states.

Evidence on cell phones recovered from the Pembroke Pines home showed text messages and emails discussing “clients” and “dates” at different addresses and hotels, the affidavit states.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel, in its four-part investigation Innocence Sold, uncovered how hotels escaped thousands of violations of an anti-trafficking law, how state failures contribute to child sex trafficking and how the state's foster care system provides access to sex traffickers. to vulnerable children. The investigative team's project also highlighted how victims are often treated like criminals.

Innocence sold: Florida hotels have racked up thousands of violations of a 2019 sex trafficking law. But none were fined.

Officers also found numerous messages between Mizrachi and co-defendant Courtney Simpson, 58, Mizrachi's boyfriend who also lived in the home, the affidavit states.

On several different dates, Mizrachi texted Simpson about the trafficking operation, according to the affidavit. She texted Simpson in August 2022: “Hey I have a really good ad in the works and just hired 2 super strong girls ready to work…”

One woman said Simpson “would use the guns inside the home to intimidate her and the other women into compliance,” according to the affidavit.

The state's prosecution office charged Simpson with deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution for his role, the affidavit states. He pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Mizrachi. He will be on probation until April 2029, according to Florida Department of Corrections records.

Mizrachi posted ads with photographs of the women on several commercial sex websites, and photos found by agents on cell phones matched the ads. Throughout the investigation, officers identified several victims while others have yet to be identified, according to the affidavit.

A woman flew to South Florida from Pennsylvania in 2022 to stay with Mizrachi. A Pennsylvania woman whom Mizrachi calls his mother was also allegedly involved in trafficking women in that state, according to the affidavit. The Pennsylvania woman connected the victim with Mizrachi. That victim overdosed on fentanyl multiple times and was forced to have sex for money with multiple “johns” per day, the affidavit states.

Mizrachi provided the medications in the morning, afternoon and evening, calling it “medication time,” according to the affidavit. The victims described to Mizrachi officers being denied drugs if they did not have sex for money.

After experiencing withdrawals, “they would eventually comply with Mizrachi's demands to have sex with his clients to get their fix,” the affidavit states. One victim said Mizrachi would refuse clean needles if she was upset and would only leave dirty needles to inject fentanyl.

“If you want to be lazy, you want to slack off? Then you won’t get your medicine,” Mizrachi told the women on one occasion when she felt the women weren’t getting enough “dates,” according to the affidavit.

Moody's office said in its news release Friday that Mizrachi herself often kept the money the women received.

The victims told police they were charged a “fee” and had to pay for the drugs they used, according to the affidavit. One woman said Mizrachi “offered fees for various reasons, leaving some women sometimes as little as $20 a week or nothing at all,” according to the affidavit. At one point, two women were charged fees of $500 each for “disturbing the house” after arguing.

As of Friday evening, Mizrachi was being held at the Paul Rein Detention Center. Attorney information was not immediately available.