A Fort Lauderdale man finishing up a five-year federal prison sentence on fraud charges will head straight to the Broward Main Jail when he is released to face 13 counts of human trafficking, sex trafficking, profiting from prostitution and one count of aggravated manslaughter of a minor — a teenage girl whose death was explored in the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s “Innocence Sold” series last year.
Marina Ralph, 16, was found dead of a cocaine and fentanyl overdose on Oct. 4, 2019, at the Extended Stay Premier Suites in Pompano Beach. The county medical examiner concluded her body had been moved after she died.
Last month, the Broward Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of Randall Lee Taylor, 38, on more than a dozen charges involving six victims, five of whom are adults who are still alive. The sixth victim was Ralph, said Justin Grosz, an attorney representing Ralph’s family in a lawsuit against the company that owns the hotel.
The award-winning “Innocence Sold” investigation found more than 14,000 citations in violation of a prostitution and human trafficking law against over 6,500 hotels throughout the state, none of which had to pay a single fine.
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Taylor targeted teenagers who were homeless or had substance abuse problems, coercing them into a life of prostitution and drug sales. The Sun Sentinel’s investigation found Ralph had been featured in suggestive ads on the web indicating her availability for sex. She had begged her mother not to call 911 because she was afraid of the people she was with — that they would harm her or her mother. She said that they knew where she lived.
Taylor admitted in federal court last year that he was involved with a group called the “Felony Lane Gang” between 2019 and 2020, traveling across the country breaking into cars, often targeting those parked by women at health and fitness centers, daycares, and parks. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
With credit for time served and gain time for good behavior, records show he could be released as soon as December 2024.
When he is, Broward criminal court will be waiting.
If convicted on all charges, Taylor faces the possibility a life sentence.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Threads.net/@rafael.olmeda.
