A 36-year-old Lauderdale Lakes man known on the street as Cachi is facing a fresh round of felony charges in Miami-Dade County after police say he branded trafficking victims with tattoos, set a $1,000-a-day earnings quota for at least one woman, and warned her that he had people everywhere if she tried to leave. Russell Dominique Brown was already sitting in Miami-Dade custody when detectives came to serve the new charges, formally re-arresting him while he was detained at the Metrowest Detention Center.
According to WPLG Local 10, Brown had been held in Miami-Dade custody since April on a warrant tied to a 2021 Miami Beach arrest on charges of human trafficking, aggravated battery and aggravated assault with a firearm. Police say the new allegations describe a 29-year-old victim who met Brown at a Pompano Beach strip club in 2025, only to be drawn into a controlled life of prostitution across Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
A House Full of Women, All Working for Him
Investigators say four women lived in Brown's house, working in strip clubs and prostitution and handing over all of their earnings to him. Brown allegedly used that money to cover room rentals, vehicle rentals and other essentials for the operation, while presenting himself as a life coach who could help the women build better lives.
Police say Brown set the victim's prices himself and told her she could go home to her daughter only after making her daily quota — and that when she came up short, she was made to keep working. He allegedly turned off her phone on several occasions and made payments to her only when he felt like it, according to police.
Branding, Gang Claims and a 'Baby Cachi'
The most disturbing detail in the case involves permanent marks police say Brown ordered on his victims. The 29-year-old victim had a tattoo reading “Cachi 5 Queen” on her upper left thigh, which police say represented her membership among Brown's girls, with the number five signifying allegiance to the Blood gang. Other women working for Brown also carried tattoos representing him, according to investigators.
Brown allegedly told the victim they could have a “baby Cachi” together and offered to help her start a business, get cosmetic procedures, buy a new car and acquire luxury goods, police say. At the same time, he allegedly beat her, pushed and shoved her, and regularly threatened her, according to police, who describe him as violent toward the other women as well. Brown reportedly claimed he was a member of the Blood gang, a freemason, and that he was, in his words, a big deal in Miami — boasting that he had people everywhere.
Under Florida Statute § 787.06(4)(b), permanently branding or directing the branding of a trafficking victim is a second-degree felony. The same statute allows prosecutors to reclassify trafficking charges to a higher felony degree — up to a life felony — when the crime causes great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement, according to Florida Senate summaries of the law. Brown now faces multiple felony charges in Miami-Dade County, including human trafficking with branding, commercial sex trafficking and deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution.
Cut Ankle Monitor, a Kill Switch and a Miami Beach Address
Police say Brown committed the newly charged crimes while out on bond in the separate 2021 human trafficking case, after cutting off his court-ordered ankle monitor and absconding from custody. The arrest report lists 4441 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach — the address of the Fontainebleau Hotel in the Mid-Beach corridor — as the crime location. In one detail from the investigation, a car rental employee activated the kill switch on a vehicle the victim was driving, according to police. Brown remains held without bond at the Metrowest Detention Center as of Thursday.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Miami Beach
Brown's case follows a string of similar arrests by Miami Beach police in recent years. In August, Hoodline reported on the arrest of 36-year-old Jermaine Anthony Hinkle, accused of dictating a woman's prostitution pricing, advertisements and living arrangements. In September 2024, Miami Beach undercover officers arrested 37-year-old Robert Brown after a victim said he forced her into sex work, took her earnings and threatened her with a weapon — a case Hoodline covered in a piece headlined Chilling Human Trafficking Claims.
The Mid-Beach hotel corridor where Brown's alleged crime location sits includes the Fontainebleau Hotel. The discussion also turned to human trafficking in Miami-Dade County and South Florida.
Florida's Standing in a National Crisis
The scale of the problem extends well beyond any single arrest. Florida ranks third nationally for reported trafficking cases. Florida agencies and organizations also track human-trafficking data.
Locally, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office Human Trafficking Task Force has filed more than 940 trafficking-related cases and assisted more than 1,350 victims since 2012, according to the office's own data. That track record underscores the scale of enforcement Brown's case now joins, as prosecutors weigh charges that could carry decades behind bars if the branding and abuse allegations hold up in court.
