A Fresno man with a prior human trafficking conviction was sentenced Monday to 40 years in state prison after a jury found him guilty of human trafficking and pimping a vulnerable young woman, prosecutors said.

Samuel Packard, 43, of Fresno, was sentenced by Fresno County Superior Court Judge Brian Alvarez following his conviction on May 1.

Jurors found Packard guilty on all charges and determined several aggravating factors were present, including that the victim was particularly vulnerable, that the crimes involved cruelty and violence, and that Packard’s criminal history showed he posed a serious danger to society.

According to evidence presented at trial, the victim, a 19-year-old woman from out of state, became stranded in Northern California without a phone, money or support. Prosecutors said Packard approached her under the pretense of helping her before exploiting her circumstances.

Authorities said Packard took the woman to a hotel in Oakland, where he forced her into commercial sex acts. He later brought her to Fresno and continued to traffic and exploit her through physical violence, intimidation and threats.

After months of abuse, the victim escaped and contacted law enforcement, prosecutors said.

Evidence introduced at trial also showed that shortly before the trial began, Packard and his wife conspired to contact the victim in an effort to dissuade her from testifying. Packard is awaiting trial on separate witness-dissuasion charges.

The trial began April 16 and concluded May 1 with guilty verdicts.

At sentencing, the court considered Packard’s criminal history, which includes a 2015 Merced County conviction for human trafficking of a minor, as well as convictions for robbery, evading a police officer, narcotics offenses, and failure to register as a sex offender.

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