Federal Jury Convicts Lubbock Man for Sex Trafficking of a Child
Defendant Harbored, Transported, and Maintained Minor Female Engaged in Prostitution

LUBBOCK, TX—Following a two-day trial before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings in federal court in Lubbock, Texas, a jury has convicted Chanze Lamount Pringler on an indictment charging sex trafficking of a child, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. While a sentencing date was not set, Pringler, 25, of Lubbock, faces a statutory sentence of not less than 10 years or more than life in prison and a $250,000 fine. He has been in custody since his arrest on March 30, 2011, by officers with the Lubbock Police Department, on related charges.

The government presented evidence at trial that Pringler knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, and maintained by any means, an unnamed minor female who was under the age of 18, knowing, or in reckless disregard of the fact, that she was under the age of 18 and that she would be caused to engage in a commercial sex act. Witnesses testified that Pringler would provide food, shelter, transportation, and marijuana to the unnamed minor and to another female, and used the proceeds from their prostitution activities to pay for those items. The government also presented evidence that Pringler and the adult female advertised the minor’s prostitution services on the Internet, and Pringler drove her to various hotels and locations to engage in the sex acts.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov

The case was investigated by the Lubbock Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven M. Sucsy and Amy Burch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, prosecuted.