BOSTON - A Baltimore man pleaded guilty today to the sexual trafficking of a 15-year-old girl.
Justin Richardson, a/k/a "Jay," a/k/a "Jay Loyal Richardson," 21, pleaded guilty to recruiting and transporting a minor to engage in prostitution. Richardson and his codefendants, Mark Pinnock and Martin Pinkey, were originally charged in March 2014. Richardson is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton on Nov. 14, 2014.
In late December 2013, officers responded to a 9-1-1 call from a Cambridge hotel, where they found the 15-year-old victim and Pinnock. The minor victim stated that Richardson and Pinkney had arranged for her to travel by bus from Baltimore to Boston. Pictures were taken of the minor victim in both Baltimore and Boston and used to post ads soliciting prostitution on the Internet websites Backpage and Craiglist. While in Boston, the minor victim completed commercial sex acts at the direction of Pinnock at two Boston area hotels.
Pursuant to the plea agreement, Richardson faces a sentence of at least 10 years in prison, at least five years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Pinnock and Pinkey are scheduled to enter guilty pleas on Aug. 12, 2014.
U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert C. Haas made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth Kosto and Carlos Lopez, both members of Ortiz’s Civil Rights Enforcement Team. Ortiz also thanked the office of Middlesex County District Attorney Marian C. Ryan for its participation in the investigation that led to today’s plea.
The aggressive enforcement of federal civil rights laws is a top priority of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Since U.S. Attorney Ortiz created the Civil Rights Enforcement Team in 2010, the Office has substantially increased its focus on civil and criminal civil rights enforcement. In the last four years, the office has charged multiple defendants with sex trafficking and other criminal civil rights violations.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
