Brooklyn, New York Man Pleads Guilty to Transporting 16-Year-Old for Prostitution
| U.S. Attorney’s Office May 11, 2010 |
ALEXANDRIA, VA—Marc Shawn Brickhouse, 32, of Brooklyn, N.Y., today pled guilty to transporting a 16-year-old girl across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison when he is sentenced on July 23, 2010.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Shawn Henry, the Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea hearing before United States District Judge Liam O’Grady.
According to court documents, Brickhouse was a pimp operating in Virginia, Maryland, and New York. Brickhouse and one of his prostitutes, Julie McKenna, 21, lured a 16-year-old girl from California to the East Coast to work as a prostitute. McKenna befriended the teen earlier when both McKenna and the juvenile lived in California. They kept in contact via MySpace. When the girl contacted McKenna saying she wanted to run away from home, Brickhouse and McKenna agreed for the girl to join them as long as she worked as a prostitute. McKenna flew to California. Then, McKenna and the girl rode a Greyhound bus back to Maryland where they were met by Brickhouse.
From late December 2009 to February 2010, Brickhouse and McKenna transported the 16-year-old between Virginia, Maryland, and New York to engage in prostitution. The girl was prostituted in each location. They posted prostitution advertisements for the girl on Craigslist and operated out of hotels, including the Quality Inn and Marriot Residence Inn in Woodbridge, Va. Finally, on Feb. 20, 2010, the girl ran from the Marriot Residence Inn to a nearby Babies“R”Us, where she asked a store employee to call the police.
McKenna pled guilty last month and will be sentenced on July 9, 2010.
This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and the Prince William County Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Patricia Giles is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.