Sacramento Pimp Indicted for Trafficking Underage Girls

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Marquist Piere Bradford, 26, of Chicago, has been brought back to Sacramento to face charges of sex trafficking of children by force, fraud, or coercion.

Bradford was arraigned Wednesday before United States Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney and entered a not guilty plea. He was ordered held without bail and is next scheduled to appear in court on May 31, 2012 before United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr.

Bradford was arrested on April 11, 2012 in Springfield, Illinois for a one-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Sacramento on March 29, 2012. The indictment has been sealed while law enforcement pursued Bradford. He was arrested in Chicago, and U.S. Marshals brought him to Sacramento on Tuesday.

According to the indictment, Bradford recruited a 15-year-old girl to travel from Fresno to Sacramento, where she was used by Bradford as part of his prostitution business from January 19 through February 5, 2012. According to court documents, Bradford maintained an apartment in Rancho Cordova that he used as a base of operations for a prostitution business that spanned the Sacramento and Bay Areas, as well as several cities outside California. At least two of Bradford’s victims were under the age of 18. Bradford fled from Sacramento to the Chicago area after law enforcement recovered the 15-year-old victim.

This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI’s Sacramento Crimes Against Children Task Force, which received the case after the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office located and recovered the 15-year-old victim. The Task Force brings together state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies in the Sacramento area to investigate the trafficking of juvenile victims of prostitution. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew G. Morris is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Bradford faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison. The actual sentence, if convicted, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.