JACKSON, Miss. ( WJTV ) – Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-Miss.) announced three men have been sentenced in separate human trafficking and child exploitation cases.
On August 30, 34-year-old Bruce Cherry, Jr., of Taylorsville, was sentenced in Forrest County to 10 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), with three years to serve day for day without the possibility of parole and five years of post-release supervision.
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According to Fitch’s office, Cherry was arrested in May 2021 during a human trafficking operation in Hattiesburg.
On September 3, 38-year-old James Wilder, of Carthage, was sentenced in Leake County to 10 years in the custody of MDOC, with three years to serve day for day on one count of tampering with physical evidence. Wilder was also sentenced to a term of 15 years with seven years to serve day for day on one count of intimidating a witness.
Investigators said the case originated as a report by the Leake County Sheriff’s Office and the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services to the Attorney General’s Office Human Trafficking Unit.