A Bristol man indicted last year for sex trafficking is facing additional charges after a grand jury handed down a new indictment alleging additional victims, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
David Marshall, also known as “Saint,” 38, of Bristol, was indicted by a grand jury in November 2022 on charges of forceful sex trafficking of one woman and offenses related to his alleged actions after his arrest. Court records indicate the offenses occurred primarily in Connecticut and Maine.
On Oct. 26 a federal grand jury in New Haven, Connecticut, returned a superseding indictment alleging that Marshall forcibly sex trafficked three additional women between 2016 and 2022 and attempted to obstruct the investigation and prosecution of his case while he was in federal custody.
According to court documents cited by the Department of Justice, between January and April 2022, Marshall sold the first victim for commercial sex and repeatedly raped and beat her if she did not follow his orders. Documents allege that he controlled the victim by plying her with fentanyl and threatening to harm her family.
The victim attempted to escape from Marshall in March 2022 and got an order of protection against him after he was arrested by Cromwell, Connecticut, police for threatening to kill her.
On April 27, 2022, Marshall was arrested in Freeport after he severely beat the woman, according to the DOJ. While in jail, he allegedly contacted his victim in violation of the protection order and tried to convince her not to cooperate with the police and to continue to prostitute herself to earn money to bail him out of jail.
Marshall also allegedly contacted another person from jail in an attempt to erase evidence on his cell phone, which was then in the possession of the FBI.
The superseding indictment charges Marshall with four counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, which carry sentences of 15 years to life on each count. Additionally he was charged with two counts of attempted obstruction of sex trafficking enforcement, for which he faces a maximum of 25 years on each count; and one count of interstate violation of a protection order, which can rise to the level of a life sentence under some circumstances, according to the DOJ.
Marshall appeared in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut, on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty.
