Child Sex Trafficker Sentenced to 188 Months in Prison
| U.S. Attorney’s Office July 19, 2011 |
MEMPHIS, TN—Mitchell Lamont Chest, 32, of Chicago, IL, was sentenced to 188 months by U.S. District Judge Bernice B. Donald, announced United States Attorney Edward L. Stanton, III and Amy Hess Special, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Memphis Division. Chest must also pay a $100 special assessment and serve a 10-year term of supervised release. The supervised release term included a number of conditions that limited Mr. Chest’s access to minors, as well as requiring Chest to submit his name as a registered sex offender.
On January 3, 2011, Chest pled guilty before Judge Donald to violating one count of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(a). The indictment charged that Chest transported a 15-year-old female to Tennessee from another state for the purpose of having her engage in sexual activity including prostitution.
United States Attorney Edward L. Stanton, III, said about the sentence: “This office will vigorously pursue sex traffickers and others who prey upon the most vulnerable members of our community. We will continue to partner with the FBI, the Memphis Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies to protect innocent child victims and prosecute those responsible for such reprehensible criminal behavior to the fullest extent of the law.”
“There should be no tolerance for the abuse of children and minors, and the FBI takes its role in investigating the trafficking of such victims very seriously,” said Amy S. Hess, Special Agent in Charge of the Memphis FBI Office. “This sentence today should send a clear message to all who may engage in this type of illicit behavior that the FBI will work diligently with our partners to bring them to justice.”
This case was investigated jointly by the Memphis Police Department Sex Crimes Unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Stanton commended the diligent work by Lt. Wilton Cleveland, Sgt. Victoria Harris, and Special Agent Jaime Corman in this case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Parker.