A nine-day human trafficking sting in Polk County, Florida, led to the arrests of 255 individuals, including 26 illegal immigrants who had evaded all federal tracking, Sheriff Grady Judd announced this week, as reported [1] by Fox News.
The operation, named “Fool Around and Find Out,” is now the largest of its kind in the history of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The sting, which took place in May, was conducted in partnership with multiple agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which for the first time embedded directly with Polk County detectives during the investigation.
Among those arrested were individuals from diverse backgrounds, including a medical doctor, a former executive with the American Red Cross, both active-duty and retired military personnel, and former NFL linebacker Adarius Taylor, who played with the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Carolina Panthers before retiring in 2020.
Taylor allegedly left his medically fragile child unattended in a car while attempting to solicit a prostitute, who was actually an undercover officer. Another individual was reportedly arrested while his wife was undergoing cancer treatment at home.
“These are people from all walks of life,” Judd said, emphasizing the far-reaching nature of those implicated.
“Your wife is being treated for cancer. And at a time in her life where she needs you the most, you’re out turning a trick with a hooker at an undercover location? That is incredible.”
The arrests also uncovered a troubling number of previously unaccounted-for illegal immigrants. According to Sheriff Judd, 36 illegal immigrants were arrested, and 26 of them had not checked in with federal authorities.
“Twenty-six of them were not even on the federal government’s radar,” Judd said. “They had snuck into the country and did not check in.”
Judd noted the criminal impact of their presence: “If those illegal immigrants weren’t here in this country, then there would have been 15% less crime committed.”
In total, the investigation led to 102 felony charges and 284 misdemeanor charges. The suspects’ combined criminal histories included 400 felonies and 519 misdemeanors, ranging from murder and kidnapping to robbery and sexual assault.
Sheriff Judd stated that the online prostitution industry enables human trafficking and victim exploitation, and emphasized that his office will continue to pursue such crimes aggressively.
“Our goal is to identify victims, offer them help, and arrest those who are fueling the exploitation of human beings,” Judd said. “This is not a victimless crime—it results in exploitation, disease, drug and alcohol addiction, violence, and broken families.”
Judd reiterated that Polk County will remain vigilant.
“This is not the last one. This is just the last one. There’s going to be another one, and another one and another one,” he said. “Florida is the vacation state. People come from all around the world with their children. We want to make sure that it’s a safe environment, and it is.”
“If you think you’re gonna sneak here and, ‘Hey, what goes on in Florida stays in Florida,’ that’s wrong. I’ll put you on blast all across the nation, and that’s a guarantee.”