SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney
Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Marquist Piere Bradford, 26, of Chicago, has
been brought back to Sacramento to face charges of sex trafficking of children
by force, fraud, or coercion.
Bradford was arraigned Wednesday before
United States Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney and entered a not guilty
plea. He was ordered held without bail and is next scheduled to appear in court
on May 31, 2012 before United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr.
Bradford was arrested on April 11, 2012
in Springfield, Illinois for a one-count indictment returned by a federal grand
jury in Sacramento on March 29, 2012. The indictment has been sealed while law
enforcement pursued Bradford. He was arrested in Chicago, and U.S. Marshals
brought him to Sacramento on Tuesday.
According to the indictment, Bradford
recruited a 15-year-old girl to travel from Fresno to Sacramento, where she was
used by Bradford as part of his prostitution business from January 19 through
February 5, 2012. According to court documents, Bradford maintained an
apartment in Rancho Cordova that he used as a base of operations for a
prostitution business that spanned the Sacramento and Bay Areas, as well as
several cities outside California. At least two of Bradford’s victims were
under the age of 18. Bradford fled from Sacramento to the Chicago area after
law enforcement recovered the 15-year-old victim.
This case is the product of an
investigation by the FBI’s Sacramento Crimes Against Children Task Force, which
received the case after the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office located and
recovered the 15-year-old victim. The Task Force brings together state, local,
and federal law enforcement agencies in the Sacramento area to investigate the
trafficking of juvenile victims of prostitution. Assistant United States
Attorney Matthew G. Morris is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Bradford faces a maximum
statutory penalty of life in prison. The actual sentence, if convicted, will be
determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable
statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into
account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations and the
defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt.
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