San Diego Man Sentenced to Serve 78 Months for Sex Trafficking and Enticement of a Juvenile into Prostitution

United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt announced that Jordan Arnold was sentenced today in federal court in San Diego by the Honorable Larry A. Burns to serve 78 months in custody and five years of supervised release based on Arnold’s conviction for one count of Conspiracy to Engage in Sex Trafficking of Children and one count of Coercion and Enticement of a Juvenile into Prostitution. Arnold pled guilty on January 14, 2009. 

In his plea, Arnold admitted that, from approximately August 1, 2007 until October 11, 2007, he was a member of a conspiracy that recruited, persuaded, and employed juveniles to perform acts of prostitution for the conspirators’ financial benefit. The conspiracy also consisted of co-defendants Christopher Black and Jessica King, both of whom also pled guilty. Black was sentenced on April 13, 2009 to serve 68 months in custody. King was sentenced on May 4, 2009 to serve 18 months in custody. 

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tenorio, who prosecuted the case, Arnold admitted that he enticed at least one juvenile to work as a prostitute and provided a computer with instructions that the juvenile post a photograph of herself on the Craigslist website to solicit prostitution clients. Arnold provided the juvenile with a mobile telephone for her to receive calls from the clients responding to the ads. Arnold then directed the juvenile to make arrangements to meet the clients at various motels in the Mission Valley and Sports Arena area of San Diego, where he would later bring the juvenile to perform acts of prostitution.  Arnold would subsequently pick up the juvenile after the acts of prostitution were completed and would collect and receive all of the juvenile’s proceeds. 

United States Attorney Hewitt stated, “These charges are the result of the hard work and dedication of agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and San Diego Police Department’s Vice Squad in targeting the abominable practice of recruiting vulnerable girls into prostitution and advertising them over the Internet. This office will continue to work with local authorities to aggressively investigate and prosecute those involved in the exploitation of juveniles in sex offenses.”

DEFENDANT Case Number: 08CR0274-LAB

Jordan Arnold Age: 21

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Count 1 Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371, and 1591 (Conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of children)
Count 4 Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2422(b) and 2 (Coercion and enticement of juveniles into prostitution)

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation
San Diego Police Department