ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Michael Lawrence Maynes, Jr., 34, of Spring Lake, North Carolina, was sentenced today to 420 months in prison for leading a violent sex trafficking ring responsible for prostituting women and girls in Alexandria, Richmond, Springfield, Chantilly, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, and other locations.
Maynes was found guilty by a federal jury on May 19. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Maynes was the leader of a sex trafficking organization known as “Horse Block Pimpin." From 2010 to 2013, Maynes prostituted countless women in and out of Virginia. Maynes convinced women to work for him by claiming he wanted a relationship or that they would be able to keep part of the profits from their work as prostitutes. At times, Maynes targeted women who had lost custody of their children and promised to help them stabilize their lives so they could regain custody. Maynes also recruited women who were homeless or were addicted to drugs. At times Maynes would isolate the women geographically and socially, use violence and drugs to control them, and would withhold access to their children until they reached a daily quota.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Maynes recruited the mother of his child to work for him recruiting, posting advertisements, collecting proceeds, and transporting the women to various hotels. Maynes also recruited his cousin, Robert Bonner, Jr., and a pretend half-brother, Michael Randall, as co-conspirators in his sex trafficking organization. The men operated together by recruiting, harboring, and prostituting women and girls, as well as trading women back and forth and working the women together at the same hotel. The men used force, coercion, and drugs to keep the women prostituting and the victims were required to give the prostitution proceeds to Maynes and his co-conspirators. Bonner and Randall previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 30 years and 25 years in prison, respectively.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia T. Giles and Whitney Dougherty Russell prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-cr-336.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
