BOSTON - Three men pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with the sex trafficking of a minor.
Tyrell Gorham, a/k/a Sheek, 31, of Lewiston, Maine pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with one count of sex trafficking a minor. Lee Young, a/k/a Chop, 34, of Brockton, and Chelanjei Greene, a/k/a Young, 34, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit sex trafficking of a minor. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for Dec. 14, 2016. If the Court accepts the guilty pleas, Gorham will be sentenced to 12 years in prison, Young to between 84 and 121 months in prison and Greene to between 72 and 100 months in prison.
An undercover law enforcement operation conducted in February 2015 identified a minor woman as a victim of a sex trafficking ring. Gorham recruited the minor from the Portland, Maine area, and Gorham and Young transported her and a friend to the Greater Boston area to work as prostitutes. With assistance from Greene, the minor and her friend posted an advertisement on Backpage.com, which was used to offer the sexual services of the women for a fee. The minor victim and her friend traveled to a motel in Woburn to meet a prospective client, who was actually an undercover law enforcement officer.
The charge of sex trafficking of a minor provides for a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years and up to a lifetime in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor provides for a sentence of no greater than life in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Child Exploitation Task Force (CETF). Significant investigative assistance was provided by the FBI; the Boston Police Department Child Abuse and Human Trafficking Units; the Arlington, Malden, Norwood, Revere, Saugus, Woburn, and Brockton Police Departments; the Massachusetts State Police; and the Massachusetts State Police Human Trafficking Unit of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Cummings and Timothy Moran of Ortiz’s Civil Rights Enforcement Team.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
