In San Antonio today, a federal judge sentenced three men to lengthy prison terms for sex trafficking five identified minors announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.
United States District Judge Fred Biery sentenced 20-year-old Melvin Lee Sullivan Deams; his father, 43-year-old Melvin Lee Sullivan (aka “Wink"); and, 22-year-old Michael Antoine McHenry to 60 years imprisonment, 25 years imprisonment and 20 years imprisonment, respectively. In addition to the prison terms, Judge Biery ordered each defendant to pay $5,000 restitution to each identified victim.
According to court documents, during a two-week period ending on October 8, 2015, the defendants were responsible for the prostitution of five juvenile females using Backpage.com. The defendants enticed their victims to engage in sexual activities for money in San Antonio, then confiscated all of the proceeds. In August 2016, McHenry and Sullivan each pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking of minors. The following month, Deams pleaded guilty to the same charge.
On October 6, 2016, a fourth defendant in this case, 20-year-old Rashawn Ledamion Gamble of San Antonio, was sentenced to five years probation after pleading guilty to misprision of felony.
This investigation was conducted by the FBI and the San Antonio Police Department with assistance from the Bexar County Juvenile Probation Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Bettina Richardson and Diana Cruz-Zapata prosecuted these defendants on behalf of the Government.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
