Pennsylvania Man Charged with Running a Prostitution Business

NEWARK, NJ—An Allentown, Pennsylvania man previously charged with sex trafficking of a minor was indicted today on additional charges of conspiracy to use an interstate facility in aid of prostitution business, transportation of a minor to engage in prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, and obstruction, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
The 10-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury against Francisco Torrellas, a/k/a “Francisco Fordham, Jr.,” “Dream,” “Daddy,” and “Pretty,” includes one count of conspiracy in connection with the defendant’s operation of a prostitution business; five counts of violating the Travel Act, i.e., using an interstate facility to carry on his prostitution business; one count of transporting a minor to engage in prostitution; one count of coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution; and one count of obstruction of justice. The original count of sex trafficking of a minor on which the defendant was indicted on June 27, 2012, remains in place.
According to the superseding indictment and other documents filed in court:
From November 2010 to February 2013, Torrellas allegedly conspired with others to operate a prostitution business in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Torrellas managed the business, traveled, and caused prostitute employees, including a minor, to travel interstate for the purpose of engaging in sex acts in exchange for money.
Torrellas used the Internet to post advertisements for sexual services on the website Backpage.com. Torrellas also developed rules for the prostitutes, booked hotel rooms, and, while incarcerated, used the phone to manage, promote, and carry on his prostitution business, specifically causing his conspirators and others to direct the proceeds of the business to his commissary account at the Essex County Correctional Facility. Torrellas also attempted to influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of another person or persons in connection with the case against him.
The conspiracy count carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison. The Travel Act counts each carry a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison. The counts relating to trafficking and transportation of a minor carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The count relating to coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, and the count charging obstruction of justice carries the maximum term that could have been imposed for the offenses charged. The defendant also faces a fine of $250,000 or twice the amount of the gain or loss from the offense for each count of conviction.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford; and the Secaucus, Jersey City, and the Allentown, Pennsylvania Police Departments with the investigation leading to today’s superseding indictment.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danielle Corcione and Jenny Kramer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the superseding indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Leader of Group from New York Charged with Offering to Sell Women Sentenced to 36 Months’ Imprisonment

NORFOLK, VA—Prince Lee, 21, of New York, was sentenced today to 36 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to transport persons for prostitution.
Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Royce E. Curtin, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; and James Cervera, Chief of Police, Virginia Beach Police Department, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Raymond A. Jackson.
Lee pleaded guilty on October 3, 2013. According to court documents, on May 15, 2013, Prince Lee and a young woman posted an advertisement on craigslist.com in Hampton Roads offering to sell the woman as a “sex slave” for $10,000. The Virginia Beach Police Department was monitoring the site and came across the advertisement and responded. An undercover officer spoke with Prince Lee, and Lee agreed to sell three women for approximately $225,000. They agreed to meet in Virginia Beach on June 1, 2013. Prince Lee and co-defendant Henry Olson recruited Jane Doe 1, a 30-year-old also from New York, and told the woman she would receive $10,000 just to “hang out” with a friend of Prince Lee’s in Virginia. After much persuasion, she agreed. Co-defendant Arielle Pierre and Prince Lee also recruited Jane Doe 2 to spend a few hours with the man. Neither of the women was told that they were being “sold” to the man. Lee, Olson, Pierre, and two others drove with the Jane Does from New York and arrived in Virginia Beach on the morning of June 1, 2013. Under observation by the police, Lee and Pierre were seen yelling at and grabbing the Jane Doe 2, trying to force the woman to remain and go to the “date.” Jane Doe 2 eventually ran into a nearby hotel, where employees hid her in the back room. Prince Lee also threatened to desert Jane Doe 1 in Virginia and throw away her car keys if she did not go forward with the plan. In the afternoon of June 1, the undercover officer arrived for the “date,” and all defendants were arrested. Pierre was sentenced on January 8, 2014, to 12 months in jail. Olson is scheduled to be sentenced on January 29, 2014.
This case was investigated by the Virginia Beach Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Yusi prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.

Former Baltimore Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Operating a Prostitution Business

BALTIMORE—Former Baltimore Police Officer Lamin Manneh, age 32, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to traveling across state lines and using the telephone and Internet to operate a prostitution business.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne C. Leitess.
According to the indictment and information presented at today’s plea hearing, between February 2013 and May 9, 2013, Manneh operated a prostitution business that serviced over 300 customers. The business provided prostitution services to customers who came to an agreed location (“in-call”), as well as at locations specified by the customers (“out-call”). Manneh’s 19-year-old wife and another 19-year-old woman worked as prostitutes for Manneh. The government alleges that as part of his business, Manneh drafted, paid for, and posted more than 50 prostitution advertisements for the two women on Internet websites; rented an apartment and hotel rooms to facilitate “in-call” commercial sex acts with clients who responded to the prostitution advertisements; and drove the women to “out-call” commercial sex acts at residences and hotel rooms.
According to the information presented at the plea hearing, Manneh provided the women with cell phones and taught them to use Voice over Internet Protocol phone services to communicate with prospective clients and with one another. Manneh waited outside the commercial sex act locations and sent the women electronic messages when they were with clients; that Manneh carried his police-issued firearm and agreed to forcibly interrupt a commercial sex interaction if the client was aggressive or non-compliant; and that he supplied both women with synthetic marijuana. Manneh collected all his wife’s prostitution earnings and a percentage of the other woman’s prostitution earnings.
Manneh faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, followed by up to lifetime of supervised release, for operating a prostitution business. U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. has scheduled sentencing for May 8, 2014, at 9:30 a.m.
The case was investigated by the FBI-led Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force (MCETF), created in 2010 to combat child prostitution, with members from 10 state and federal law enforcement agencies. The task force coordinates with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit to identify missing children being advertised online for prostitution.
MCETF partners with the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders. Members include federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members. For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/priorities_human.html.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Maryland State Police and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and recognized the Baltimore Police Department for its assistance. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark W. Crooks, who is prosecuting the case.

Canada's high court: Change prostitution laws

Canada's Supreme Court has struck down the country's laws about prostitution.

While selling sex for money isn't illegal in Canada, until Friday's 9-0 ruling, three specific laws had made it difficult for prostitutes to more safely and securely engage in sex work.

One of the laws prohibited anyone from operating a brothel. Another forbade people from earning a living working for a prostitute, such as being a driver, bookkeeper or bodyguard. Another law reportedly made it illegal to communicate in public about acts of prostitution.

On Friday, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin said that the court's decision would be "suspended for one year" until Parliament amends the laws.

McLachlin said the time should be allotted because "the regulation of prostitution is a complex and delicate matter."

According to the Toronto Star, if 12 months from now the federal government has not redrafted legislation, then prostitutes will be allowed to legally work, hire drivers, bodyguards and accountants, and screen their clients.

The law's purpose "is to target pimps and the parasitic, exploitative conduct in which they engage," the court said Friday.

"The law, however, punishes everyone who lives on the avails of prostitution without distinguishing between those who exploit prostitutes and those who could increase the safety and security of prostitutes, for example, legitimate drivers, managers, or bodyguards. .. The living on the avails provision is consequently overbroad."

On another matter, the law on prohibiting soliciting was designed "not to eliminate street prostitution for its own sake, but to take prostitution off the streets and out of public view in order to prevent the nuisances that street prostitution can cause," the high court found.

CNN affiliate CBC News, citing a criminologist, said Parliament could criminalize the sale or purchase of sex and choose to regulate where prostitution can occur.

Parliament also could do nothing, in which case the provinces and municipalities would likely develop their own provisions, CBC News said.

Long Beach Man Guilty for Second Time in Federal Court of Transporting Women Across State Lines to Work as Prostitutes

SANTA ANA, CA—A Long Beach man with a long history of forcing women into the sex trade pleaded guilty this morning in a sex trafficking case and is expected to be sent to prison for another decade.
William Earl Flavors, also known as “Andre,” 40, who formerly resided in Seattle, pleaded guilty this morning to a charge of transportation into prostitution.
Flavors pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton, who scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 9. While Judge Staton will make the final decision, prosecutors and Flavors agree that the appropriate sentence in this case is the statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. The 10-year sentence is much longer than the sentence that would be expected for this crime under the United States Sentencing Guidelines, and this 10-year sentence would run consecutive to a four-year sentence he is currently serving in relation to the same conduct.
In court this morning, Flavors admitted that he transported two victims in 2012 from Long Beach to Las Vegas, where they were forced or coerced to work as prostitutes. Flavors also admitted he used coercion and force—including physical abuse and threats of additional physical abuse—to make one of the victims work for him as a prostitute for an eight-month period in 2012.
In a previous case, Flavors was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office and received a 14-year prison sentence in May 2000. In that case, Flavors admitted transporting two teenage girls from Washington and forcing them to work as prostitutes in Orange County.
Flavors completed his sentence in late 2011 and was on supervised release until October 2012, when he was arrested by Long Beach Police after a woman reported being attacked by Flavors. Flavors pleaded guilty in state court last year to pimping in relation to his activities in 2012, and he was sentenced to four years in state prison.
Earlier this year, United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney found Flavors to be in violation of his supervised release in the prior federal court case. Judge Carney revoked his supervised release and sentenced Flavors to a four-year prison term, which he is currently serving.
The sentencing that Flavors will receive from Judge Staton in relation to today’s guilty plea will run consecutive to the sentence that he is currently serving.
The current case against Flavors was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Long Beach Police Department.
Contacts:

• Assistant United States Attorney Sandy Leal: (714) 338-3531
• Assistant United States Attorney Brett Sagel: (714) 338-3598

Wisconsin Man Charged with Commercial Sex Trafficking

United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Milwaukee, Wisconsin man has been charged in federal court for transportation for prostitution, coercion, and commercial sex trafficking.
Thomas Alexander Roberts, age 33, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge John E. Simko on November 26, 2013, and pled not guilty to the charges.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to life in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, five years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
In November 2013, Roberts allegedly transported an adult female from Wisconsin to South Dakota with the intent to have her engage in prostitution and sexual activity.
The charge is merely an accusation, and Roberts is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Sioux Falls Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper is prosecuting the case.
Roberts was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.

Las Vegas Man Sentenced to Prison for Interstate Travel to Promote Prostitution

ANCHORAGE—U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that an Anchorage man was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage for one count of interstate travel to promote prostitution. Brandon Michael Gadson traveled to Anchorage in July 2010, with three women, the youngest of whom was 19 years old, and another man for the purpose of trafficking the women on the Internet. After arriving, Gadson paid for the hotel rooms for two of the women, and his credit card was used to post explicit advertisements on the Internet that the women were available for commercial sex acts. The vice squad of the Anchorage Police Department conducted a “sting” operation and detectives with that unit arrested the three women in less than an hour from the start of the operation. When arrested, Gadson had approximately $10,000 in his pocket, but the three women had only insignificant amounts of cash in their possession.
Gadson, 32, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced January 18, 2013, by United States District Court Judge Sharon M. Gleason, to 18 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. During his period of supervised release, Gadson is restricted from use of the Internet without his probation officer’s permission. The sentence imposed was in accordance with the United States Sentencing Guidelines for this crime.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel R. Cooper, Jr., Gadson appeared in at least three videos published on YouTube, all of which lyricized the degradation of women through sex trafficking and promoted the exploitation of women through physical force. In his sentencing remarks, Cooper noted the Alaska State Legislature’s recent recognition that prostitution is, in reality, sex trafficking.
In imposing sentence, Judge Gleason termed Gadson’s conduct demeaning to women and called his crime reprehensible. Judge Gleason found that Gadson was a long-time trafficker, essentially living off women, and so proud of his conduct that he had the word “Pimp” tattooed on the side of his neck. Judge Gleason noted that the tattoos and videos in which Gadson appears are despicable ways to project his sense of self to his family and children. Judge Gleason also said that Gadson’s conduct towards the women he had trafficked, and the videos in which he appeared, were despicable, as was his living off them. Moreover, Judge Gleason found that the assaultive behavior described in the police reports with respect to Jane Doe 1 was egregious.
U.S. Attorney Loeffler stated, “The United States Attorney’s Office, in conjunction with the Anchorage Vice Squad and the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ Innocence Lost Task Force, has prioritized the investigation and prosecution of sex trafficking, with particular emphasis on trafficking and exploitation of children and Native Alaskans. We will work with our state, local, and federal partners to continuously and systematically attack this most exploitive of crimes.”
Ms. Loeffler commends the Vice Squad of the Anchorage Police Department for the investigation of this case, with the support of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Innocence Lost Task Force.