Silver Spring rapper arrested in Maryland and extradited to Florida on human trafficking charges
Silver Spring, Maryland rapper Monriko Clements, who goes by the artist name King Swuice, was arrested in Maryland and extradited to southern Florida this week on charges of human trafficking.
The victim, identified by authorities only as M.C., met Mr. Clements on the Tinder dating app in May. Mr. Clements then invited M.C. to a strip club in Baltimore where he performed as King Swuice, and the two began a relationship, according to authorities.
When M.C. lost her job at Chipotle three weeks into her relationship with Mr. Clements, Mr. Clements is alleged to have suggested prostitution as a way for her to make money and provide for her children, according to an arrest warrant reviewed by the Miami Herald.
Authorities accuse Mr. Clements of setting up an online page advertising M.C.’s services on “dates,” charging $120 for 15 minutes, $200 for 20 minutes, and $300 for an hour, according to WPLG-TV, a Miami ABC affiliate. M.C. also tattooed a crown and “Swuice” above her left breast to signify that she “belonged” to Mr. Clements.
Between May and November, M.C. estimated she earned around $20,000, which Mr. Clements is accused of keeping for himself. Mr. Clements is also accused of plying M.C. with cocaine and ecstasy, according to WPLG-TV.
When weather turned cold in the Northeast in early November, the pair drove to the Miami area, taking up residence in Florida City. M.C. allegedly conducted her business primarily in Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
On Nov. 14, M.C. called her mother and told her about Mr. Clements‘ alleged pimping and physical abuse. That afternoon, as the pair was driving to Miami Beach, they got into an argument.
M.C. wanted to quit being a prostitute, while Mr. Clements is alleged to have proposed she become a madam, operating an escort service and recruiting other women while funneling proceeds back to him, according to WPLG-TV.
After Mr. Clements is alleged to have threatened her life and beaten her in the car with a cellphone cord, M.C. leapt out of the moving vehicle. A bystander helped the woman, according to WPLG-TV.
“Imagine, she jumped out a moving car risking injury or death because she could not think of a better way to avoid the beating that she alleged Clements was giving her,” Miami-Dade State Attorney General Katherine Fernandez Rundle said at a news conference, according to WFOR-TV, a Miami CBS affiliate.
Mr. Clements then returned his rented vehicle to the airport and left town, according to the Herald. M.C.’s mother, meanwhile, had contacted Maryland State Police, who in turn contacted Florida City police.
Mr. Clements was arrested this week in Fulton in Howard County, Maryland, and is charged with human trafficking and deriving support from proceeds of prostitution.
