SCRANTON-The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Mark Matis, age 29, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on Nov. 30, 2017, by Senior U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley to 58 months’ imprisonment for his role in the sex trafficking of a minor in early 2014.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Matis previously pleaded guilty to assisting Sean Cantelmo and others in transporting and maintaining a minor for the purpose of having the minor engage in prostitution during February through May 2014.
The sex trafficking activity involved placing photographs of the minor along with ads in the adult “escort" section of a website; renting motel rooms in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties where the prostitution activities occurred; providing drugs to the minor; purchasing and providing condoms for the minor to use during commercial sex acts; and serving as security or “bodyguards" at the motels where the commercial sex acts took place.
The court noted that Matis played a minor role in the offense for only a brief time period.
Matis was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2015, as a result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Pennsylvania State Police. Four persons were charged in connection with the investigation. Sean Cantelmo previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 151 months in prison. Jimmy Cantelmo also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Justin Strait pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 72 months in prison.
Judge Munley also ordered Matis to serve five years on supervised release following his prison sentence. Matis must also comply with the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
“Sex trafficking is a deplorable crime, especially when it involves underage victims," said Marlon V. Miller, special agent in charge of HSI Philadelphia. "Homeland Security Investigations will continue to work with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to aggressively investigate and arrest individuals that prey on the most vulnerable in our community, our children."
Assistant United States Attorney Francis P. Sempa prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
