| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 18, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Melvin Parker, Jr. of Richmond, California was sentenced today to 130 months imprisonment for Sex Trafficking of a Minor.
Mr. Parker pleaded guilty on February 20, 2008 to one count of Sex Trafficking of a Minor in violation of Title 18, United States Code, section 1591. According to the plea agreement, Mr. Parker admitted to meeting the 16 year-old female victim and communicating with her by cell phone in late June 2007, paying for her to travel from another state to Oakland, California, and making her work as a prostitute for him on various dates in July 2007 in the Northern District of California. Parker also admitted that the victim returned to her home state in July 2007 and that after she returned to her home state, he encouraged and facilitated her return to California to again work for him as a prostitute in Contra Costa and Marin counties in August 2007.
Mr. Parker, 33, of Richmond, California, was charged by complaint on September 17, 2007 and indicted by a federal grand jury on October 23, 2007. He was charged in both the complaint and indictment with causing a 16 year-old girl to engage in acts of prostitution from June 28, 2007 through August 9, 2007.
This investigation began on August 9, 2007 after a San Rafael police officer found the 16 year-old victim in San Rafael in an area known for prostitution. Thereafter, on that same day, the San Rafael Police Department made contact with and arrested Parker. Parker was initially charged by the Marin County District Attorney Edward S. Berberian, Jr. The Marin County case was later dismissed in favor of federal prosecution.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton following a guilty plea to the one count indictment charging Sex Trafficking of a Minor in violation of Title 18, United States Code, section 1591. Judge Hamilton also sentenced the defendant to a 10 year period of supervised release, which includes several conditions including that the defendant register as a sex offender; participate in a psychological or psychiatric counseling program, including sex offender treatment program, as directed by the Probation Department; and have no contact with minors except under specified conditions. The defendant will begin serving the sentence immediately.
Denise Marie Barton is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of legal assistant Hui Chen. The prosecution is the result of a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and San Rafael Police Department.
Further Information:
Case #: CR 07-0668 PJH
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Joshua Eaton at (415) 436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov.