Virginia Man Sentenced for Sex Trafficking of Minors and Transporting Minors Across State Lines for Prostitution in Virginia and Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, FL—U.S. Attorney Brian A. Albritton announces that U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced Marvin Leigh Madkins (age 29, of Virginia) to 50 years in federal prison for sex trafficking of minors and transporting minors across state lines for prostitution. A federal jury had found Madkins guilty of those charges on March 6, 2009.

According to evidence presented at trial, Madkins recruited two minors from the state of Virginia to engage in prostitution in Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida, knowing that force, fraud, or coercion would be used to cause the minors to engage in commercial sex acts. Madkins promised the minors that if they would serve as prostitutes in Virginia for a short period of time, they and he would earn enough money to go to Florida for an extravagant vacation. Madkins also told the minors that, once in Florida, he would obtain cocaine, sell it, and use the proceeds from the drug sales to fund trips to Miami, Atlanta, and New York.

After Madkins engaged the minors in prostitution in Virginia, the minors rode with Madkins on a Greyhound Bus to Jacksonville using false names on tickets that Madkins had obtained. Within days of their arrival in Jacksonville, the minors were required to engage in prostitution to pay for hotels, food, and other items. Madkins engaged the minors in prostitution from a number of local hotels and obtained multiple customers using various methods, including Internet postings on Craigslist.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mac D. Heavener, III and Nicholas A. Pilgrim.