U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite announced that ANDREA BIRDOW, 22, of Sherman, Texas, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with her boyfriend, TAUREAN JACKSON, to trafficking of a minor from the Dallas, Texas-area into the New Orleans area for the purposes of that minor engaging in prostitution.

According to court documents, BIRDOW met JACKSON in 2012 after JACKSON recruited her to join “Star City Vixens,” an entity he created to foster and promote prostitution. JACKSON became BIRDOW’s pimp and arranged for her to engage in sexual acts with others in exchange for money. JACKSON was responsible for advertising and scheduling prostitution calls with BIRDOW. JACKSON kept all, or most, of the proceeds from the prostitution calls. As a means of controlling BIRDOW’s behaviorand ensuring her compliance, JACKSON beat and choked BIRDOW on multiple occasions, often in front of others. On several occasions, JACKSON burned BIRDOW with lit cigarettes to discipline her.

In mid-June 2013, JACKSON and BIRDOW met the victim, who was then 16-years-old, in the Dallas, Texas-area and recruited her to work for JACKSON as a prostitute. Over the course of the next several weeks, JACKSON and BIRDOW drove the victim throughout Texas and Louisiana for the purpose of BIRDOW and the victim engaging in prostitution, which JACKSON advertised and arranged using an online classified advertisement. JACKSON arranged for the victim to watch BIRDOW engage in prostitution acts as a means of educating her on the best way to perform sexual acts. On July 10, 2013, BIRDOW and the victim were arrested in a Metairie hotel room by undercover law enforcement officers, who responded to an online classified advertisement offering a prostitution date.

BIRDOW faces a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. She may also be required to register as a sex offender. Sentencing is scheduled for January 14, 2015 before U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan.

JACKSON’s trial is scheduled to begin on November 3, 2014. JACKSON faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum of life, followed by up to a life term of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, andcan also be required to register as a sex offender.

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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

This case was initiated by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and is being investigated by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the FBI Dallas Child Exploitation Task Force, and the Dallas Police Department High Risk Victims Unit. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg.