Memphis Man Convicted of Interstate Transportation of a Minor for Prostitution

RICHMOND, VA—Dwane Washington, 32, of Memphis, Tennessee, was found guilty of interstate transportation of a minor for prostitution following a two-day jury trial before United States District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Jeffrey C. Mazanec, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement. The sentencing of the defendant is scheduled for January 28, 2013. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

According to evidence presented at trial, in April 2012, Washington met the then-14-year-old victim in Laurel, Maryland, while she was prostituting herself after running away from home. Washington and the juvenile immediately commenced a sexual relationship and from that point forward, they traveled together from Maryland to various cities in Tennessee, Alabama, and Virginia for the purpose of prostituting the minor. Washington used the minor’s prostitution earnings to direct their travel, post online advertisements on Backpage.com advertising the victim as an adult prostitute, and secure their transportation and the hotel rooms in which the minor would prostitute. The sexual relationship between Washington and the minor continued in each of the jurisdictions to which they traveled, including Virginia. Phones used by Washington and the minor were tracked to a hotel on Midlothian Turnpike in Richmond, Virginia, on April 25, 2012, and an undercover FBI special agent posing as a customer responded to the online advertisement offering the minor’s services as a prostitute, leading to the arrest of Washington, who was in the immediate vicinity waiting for the minor to complete the appointment.

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, Henrico County Police Department, Richmond Police Department, and the Maryland State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth C. Wu prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae.