Savannah sex trafficking suspect pleads not guilty, requests jury trial

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A sex trafficking suspect in Savannah, Michael Holsey, pleaded not guilty Wednesday and requested a trial by jury in a sex trafficking case in Chatham County.

Holsey is 1 of 5 people arrested on sex trafficking charges earlier this year. The prosecutor said a plea has been offered in the case but has not been accepted.

Details of the investigation

Holsey was part of an operation in which five people were arrested on sex trafficking charges involving a juvenile transgender victim.

An investigator said he recognized the juvenile in an advertisement on the transgender section of a prostitution website.

Holsey was reportedly cooperative with investigators and admitted he met the juvenile at an apartment complex and paid for sexual acts, the investigator testified. The investigator testified this happened on another occasion prior to that as well.

Holsey turned himself in without incident after the investigator called him about his initial arrest warrant.

Case status

Holsey and two others have been indicted so far on their charges.

See previous coverage: www.wtoc.com/2026/04/09/three-men-bound-over-superior-court-chatham-county-human-trafficking-case/

The indictment alleges that in January, he knowingly subjected the teen for the purpose of sexual servitude.

The final two defendants, Kevin Joyner and James Sinclair, have not yet been indicted.

That could happen in the coming weeks. Grand jury proceedings are secret, so the District Attorney’s office cannot confirm further details.

Holsey, Kevin Joyner, 42, and Antonio White, 34, have all 3 been indicted.

Previous coverage

The lead investigator testified the case began Sept. 29, 2025, when the Hope Court liaison referred a 16-year-old transgender girl believed to be engaging in commercial sex acts.

The investigator said he recognized the juvenile in an advertisement on a prostitution website while conducting routine screening in February. He obtained a search warrant for a TextNow app account, which revealed approximately 15,000 text messages over a two-month period.

Holsey indicated he had met with the juvenile at least one time prior to the encounter described by investigators. The investigator said Holsey’s phone number was associated with missed calls on Dec. 28, 2025, and Jan. 24, 2026. On Jan. 29, 2026, text messages showed arrangements, acts and prices were agreed upon, and the juvenile’s home address was provided.

Another suspect, Kevin Joyner’s, phone number was associated with messages on Dec. 30, 2025, in which acts, prices and a location on Abercorn Street were discussed, the investigator testified. The investigator met Joyner at his workplace on Feb. 23, 2026. Joyner allowed the investigator to go through his cell phone, which showed text messages dating back to September 2025. The phone contained both of the juvenile’s phone numbers and included graphic content.

Kevin Joyner admitted the phone was his and that he had sent the messages and coordinated a meetup, but he claimed he did not follow through. The investigator said he had no way to substantiate whether Joyner met with the juvenile. A digital extraction of Joyner’s phone was unsuccessful, and the investigator said evidence from the phone is limited to what can be seen on body camera footage.

Another different suspect, Antonio White began texting the juvenile on Jan. 8, 2026, coordinating acts and location, the investigator testified. Text messages indicated White was traveling from Statesboro to Savannah for the meeting.

White admitted to the investigator that the text messages were his and that he had traveled from Statesboro to Savannah with the intent of engaging in sexual acts. White said the juvenile was a no-show, according to the lead investigator.

The investigator said he found it strange that there were no follow-up text messages indicating White was waiting or upset about the juvenile’s failure to arrive. When asked again about the lack of follow-up messages, White repeatedly said “no, no, no” and was arrested.

Defense attorneys asked whether the websites showed the juvenile was underage. The investigator said all three suspects told him they thought the juvenile was of age.

The investigator said the juvenile advertised as 22 years old in most ads. He said the juvenile does not obviously look like a child, but that there was a level of immaturity during interviews that would have indicated the juvenile was not of age in a personal setting.

Under Georgia law, anyone under 18 engaging in commercial sex acts is considered a victim of human trafficking, not a prostitute. Georgia Code § 16-5-46 classifies the acts as trafficking a person for labor or sexual servitude.

The juvenile is a biological male who presents as female and does not hide being transgender, the investigator said. Ads were posted in the transgender section of websites nearly every day throughout the investigation.

Devonte Milton, 27, a registered sex offender, is in protective custody at the jail for this case. Milton was originally charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office later upgraded Milton’s charges to trafficking a person for sexual servitude, influencing witnesses and three counts of probation violation.

Milton was previously sentenced to prison time for computer pornography and sexual exploitation of a child in July 2021. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Milton was supposed to serve 20 years in prison for that conviction but was released after three months with credit for time served and ordered to serve the rest on probation.

Court records show Milton is on probation until 2041.

James Sinclair, 33, bonded out and has not yet been indicted, along with Antonio White.

All five arrests involve the same victim but are separate cases, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office. The suspects allegedly met with the minor at different times or dates, and the cases are being handled seperately.