Houston resident Cristian Morris has been sentenced to more than 30 years in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of trafficking underage girls along the Houston-to-Dallas corridor. Prosecutors say Morris targeted runaways, supplied them with drugs and shuttled them between the two cities to force them into commercial sex.
According to a post by US Attorney SDTX, the federal court handed down a term of more than three decades for Morris’s trafficking of minors in both Houston and Dallas. The June 10, 2026 announcement credited the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance with leading the investigation that helped secure the sentence.
Federal prosecutors had already won a guilty verdict in March 2025, when a jury convicted Morris on two counts of sex trafficking and one count of enticement of a minor, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. In a March 27, 2025 press release, the office said that from Jan. 1 through June 23, 2023, Morris posted commercial-sex ads, provided victims with drugs and transported them between hotels in Houston and Dallas. Prosecutors called the guilty verdict “a great result for victims” and said it should serve as a warning to other traffickers.
Investigation and prosecution
The Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, a coalition that includes the FBI, Houston Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations, led the probe that ended in Morris’s arrest on June 23, 2023, prosecutors say. Authorities report that he was taken into custody after posting commercial-sex ads involving a 15-year-old runaway, and investigators say they recovered evidence tying him to commercial-sex operations in both Houston and Dallas. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Valenti and Kimberly Leo prosecuted the case, according to the U.S. Attorney’s press release.
Legal framework
Sex trafficking of minors is a federal crime with some of the toughest penalties on the books. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1591, anyone who recruits, transports or financially benefits from the commercial sexual exploitation of a child faces lengthy mandatory minimum sentences and, in aggravated cases, up to life in prison. The U.S. Attorney’s March 2025 release noted that Morris had faced a possible life term and a significant fine before the court settled on his current sentence.
Hoodline previously covered Morris’s trial and conviction in March 2025; see his March 2025 conviction for earlier reporting on the case. That story summarized key jury testimony and the hotel locations where prosecutors say victims were forced to work.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office post, Morris remains in federal custody as officials prepare to transfer him to begin serving his sentence. Prosecutors said additional sentencing memoranda or filings with more detail on the guideline calculations were not immediately made public.
