FORT WORTH, Texas — This morning, U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor sentenced three defendants, with ties to the Polywood Crips street gang in Fort Worth, Texas, for their respective roles in a child sex trafficking conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Chad Johnson, a/k/a “Ocho Hood Fame,” 24, was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking of children in November 2016.
Deon Bonner, a/k/a “Spanish Fly,” 26, was sentenced to 360 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children in November 2016.
Stanley Johnson, a/k/a “Pee Wee,” 24, was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children in October 2016.
All three defendants received lifetime sex offender registration.
Co-defendants Audry Lane, a/k/a “Spud,” 29, Diwone Nobles, a/k/a “Pooh,” 32, Katelyn Micelle Ward, a/k/a “KD,” 24, Jessica Arnold, 23, Serrah Arnold, a/k/a “Kristen,” 28 and Alvin Lane, a/k/a “Spank,” 32, have also pleaded guilty to varies offenses relating to their roles in the conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing.
According to documents filed in the case, in November 2015, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) learned that a 16-year-old runaway, Jane Doe 1, was being trafficked by a group of people in Fort Worth, Texas; that group included the defendants. The investigation revealed that from approximately October 1, 2013, through April 16, 2016, the members of this group facilitated the commercial sex acts of several minor and adult females.
Nobles, Bonner, Chad Johnson, Stanley Johnson, Audry Lane and Alvin Lane, acted as pimps for the girls and women they trafficked. They instructed them on how much to charge and they kept proceeds from transactions. They also provided the girls and women with condoms, cellular phones and hotel rooms. Some of the members of the group bought and sold the girls and women they were trafficking amongst themselves.
To locate commercial sex customers, Nobles, Bonner, Chad Johnson, Stanley Johnson, Audry Lane and Alvin Lane facilitated the placement of advertisements on various commercial websites, including Backpage.com. In many instances, rather than placing the Backpage.com advertisement themselves, sisters Serrah Arnold and/or Jessica Arnold, who acted as “bottom girls,” were told to post the advertisements using Backpage.com accounts belonging to the Arnolds.
On approximately October 10, 2015, friends Deon Bonner and Stanley Johnson met 17-year-old Jane Doe 2 and her 16-year-old friend Jane Doe 1 in Fort Worth. They took the girls to a motel on Meacham Street in Fort Worth. Shortly thereafter, Stanley Johnson told Jane Doe 2 that he wanted her to engage in commercial sex acts, and he sought help from Audry Lane and Alvin Lane to post commercial sex ads for her on Backpage.com. Stanley Johnson told Jane Doe 2 how much to charge and he bought condoms for her; he also kept the money she made from engaging in commercial sex acts.
While Stanley Johnson was causing Jane Doe 2 to engage in commercial sex acts at a Fort Worth motel, Bonner was causing Jane Doe 1 to engage in commercial sex acts in another nearby room. After several days, Bonner left the hotel, and then Chad Johnson caused Jane Doe 1 to engage in commercial sex acts. Next, Nobles began causing Jane Doe 1 to engage in commercial sex acts. Chad Johnson and Nobles eventually took both Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 to another hotel in Fort Worth where Chad Johnson continued to cause Jane Doe 2 to engage in commercial sex acts.
When an adult female victim engaged in commercial sex acts at Chad Johnson’s direction, he physically assaulted her if she did not follow his instructions. On one occasion, Chad Johnson punched her in the ear hard enough to cause her eardrum to burst and bleed. Chad Johnson also raped her, and when he believed she had attempted to “renegade,” he had several friends gang rape her as punishment. “Renegade” is a term used to describe attempting to engage in commercial sex acts for money outside the knowledge or control of a pimp.
Some of the six pimp’s Facebook pages contained online posts, visible to the public, that reference making a lot of money through criminal activity, namely “pimping.” Chad Johnson’s Facebook page contained photos of him posing with large sums of cash while referencing commercial sex. Several of Chad Johnson’s Facebook friends were females observed in Backpage.com ads for commercial sex.
Nobles, Bonner, Chad Johnson, Stanley Johnson, and Audry Lane had several photos on their Facebook pages in which they can be observed flashing gang signs referencing the “Polywood Crips” street gang.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ICE HSI and the Fort Worth Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cara Foos Pierce prosecuted.
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