MIAMI – A woman said she met Michael Miller last year in Arizona. They had a two-month romantic relationship when Miller suggested that she could make money by setting dates with men on Backpage.com. She said he showed her how to set up the ad.
Months later, the woman was trapped. She told detectives with the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office Human Trafficking Task Force that Miller choked her with both hands, raised one hand, closed his fist and hit her in the face. She was afraid he was going to kill her.
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The woman said that after he helped her set up the Backpage ad, Miller, 55, persuaded her to engage in prostitution. Miller told the woman to charge men $60 for oral sex, $100 for 30 minutes of vaginal intercourse and $160 for an hour. She said he was keeping the cash.
She traveled with him to see men in California Nebraska and Virginia. The abuse and exploitation continued in Orlando, Miami and Miami Beach. He controlled her every move. He bought her clothes, he took her to the high known prostitution areas during events like New Year's Eve and the NFL Football Pro Bowl.
She was tired on Wednesday night. The enraged Miller wanted her to go out with him to have sex with more men in Miami Beach. But she didn't want to go. After a beating, she said she was afraid he was going to kill her, so she got dressed and followed orders.
She had finished with a client in Miami Beach about 4 a.m. on Thursday. Miller was angry when he picked her up, because she wasn't answering the phone. She said he took the cash from her purse and drove to a motel where he ordered her to shower. When she said she didn't want to take a shower, he threatened her.
As soon as he walked out of the room, she called her mother, who then called police. Miami police officers responded and later contacted Detective Javier Alfonso and Sgt. Alberto Echaburu. The communication archived on the woman's phone and Miller's phone corroborated the nightmarish story, which she said began in June.
Alfonso and Echaburu rescued the woman and arrested Miller, who is facing charges of human trafficking, deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution and false imprisonment.