Fairborn Man Receives 78-Month Sentence for Interstate Transportation of an Individual for the Purpose of Illegal Sexual Activity
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 31, 2013 |
DAYTON—Thuron L. Hammersley, 44, of Fairborn, Ohio was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 78 months in federal prison for transporting an individual from Ohio to Kentucky for purposes of engaging in prostitution in violation of the Mann Act.
Carter M. Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jocelyn Samuels, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice; Kevin R. Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office (FBI); Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl; and Miamisburg Police Chief John Sedlak announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black.
Hammersley was also sentenced to serve five years under court supervision after his release from prison. During that time, his computer use will be monitored. Hammersley was ordered to pay restitution and must register as a sex offender if required in any jurisdiction where he lives, works, or goes to school.
Hammersley pleaded guilty in August to one count of transportation of an individual to engage in prostitution. He also acknowledged that he had enticed a woman to travel from Kentucky to Ohio also to engage in prostitution and that he had obstructed the investigation into his activities.
According to court documents, Hammersley met the women on the website www.plentyoffish.com and placed ads for them on the Internet site www.backpage.com offering the women as “escorts.” He directed the men who responded to the ads to motels in Kentucky and Ohio, where they engaged in sexual activity for money. He also enticed another woman to travel from Kentucky to the Dayton area to engage in prostitution. Hammersley enticed her by offering her employment, by paying for her bus ticket, and by paying for condoms. Hammersley collected the money paid by the men.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Dayton and Miamisburg Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vipal Patel and Alex R. Sistla and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Betsy Biffl prosecuted the case.