Two Individuals Plead Guilty to Transporting an Individual with the Intent that She Engage in Prostitution

Contact: Julia M. Lipez
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Shawna Calhoun, 24, of Lewiston, Maine and Alvin Houston, Jr., 27, of Auburn, Maine pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to transporting an individual in interstate commerce with the intent that she engage in prostitution.

Court records reveal that on December 23, 2014, Calhoun and Houston arranged to rent a car in Maine.  On the same day, Houston drove Calhoun, another individual, and a 13-year old girl from Maine to Boston, Massachusetts, where they stayed with Calhoun’s family.  While in Boston, Calhoun and Houston drove the 13-year old girl to various hotels in the Boston area to engage in prostitution.  On December 30, 2014, Calhoun and Houston learned that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was looking for the 13-year old.  They drove her in the rental car back to Maine and ultimately to Bangor, where the 13-year old again engaged in prostitution.  Early in the morning on December 31, 2014, Calhoun and Houston drove the 13-year old to a hotel in the Bangor area so that she could meet with a client for the purposes of prostitution.  The purported client turned out to be a member of law enforcement.  Calhoun and Houston were arrested outside in the parking lot, where they were waiting in the rental car.

Both defendants face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Homeland Security Investigations Human Trafficking Task Force, the Lisbon and Bangor Police Departments, and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.