Denver District Attorney announces 25-year prison sentence in human trafficking case

Denver District Attorney John Walsh has announced a 25-year prison sentence in a human trafficking case. Dajon Blackman was sentenced on Sept. 2 after pleading guilty to human trafficking for sexual servitude and pimping. 

According to the DA's office, Blackman recruited and trafficked a 25-year-old victim in California in February 2024. About six months later, he drove her to Colorado, where prosecutors say he forced her to make $1000 a night for him. 

Blackman told the victim that if she made less than $500, she would not be allowed in the house. While in Colorado, Blackman recruited a second victim and prosecutors said there is evidence he was actively recruiting another out-of-state victim. 

Prosecutors said Blackman controlled the victims by threatening them and their families. He also abused the first victim both physically and sexually. In late November 2024, the first victim told Blackman she wanted to leave him, and he said, "she could only leave if she were completely naked and without any of her belongings," before assaulting and strangling her. 

The first victim was able to leave him a few days later, but prosecutors said he tracked her down and assaulted her once again. 

"For so long, someone else made me feel like I had no control over my own life. Today, I am taking my voice back. I am standing up for myself, for my son, and for the person I was before all of this happened," said the victim in an impact statement read at the sentencing hearing. "Twenty-five years is a long time. No sentence can give me back the nine months I lost. No sentence can undo my broken ribs, the times I was choked until I passed out, the guns in my face, the knife, the threats, the humiliation, or the fear. But even though it is 25 years, I am grateful that he is being held accountable. I am grateful that I survived."

"For nearly a year, Dajon Blackman manipulated a young woman while physically and sexually abusing her, for his own financial gain," said Walsh in a statement. "The incredible courage of that abuse survivor is why we are here today -- today's guilty plea and the heavy sentence would not have been possible without it. We can't undo those months of abuse, but at the very least, this courageous young woman made it possible to impose accountability on Blackman and ensure that he cannot continue to victimize."