United States v. Pringler

B, age 16, ran away from foster care, and met Pringler. Weeks after their meeting, Pringler rented a motel room for B. The next morning, Pringler took her to stay at another motel with his girlfriend, Norman. Pringler and B began a sexual relationship. Norman was prostituting herself, posting ads on a website. Norman introduced B to prostitution and began posting ads with B’s picture. One encounter was captured in a recording on Pringler’s computer. An undercover agent responded to an ad and arranged to have sex with Norman and B. When he arrived, he observed Pringler in the parking lot conducting surveillance. The officer entered the room and negotiated to have sex with both females; they were arrested. B was taken to a juvenile facility but released to a case worker because she was under the influence of marijuana. B again ran away. An agent again responded to an ad. When the takedown team arrived at the hotel, they saw Pringler’s vehicle in the parking lot and Pringler exiting the hotel. The officer entered the room, negotiated sex for money, arrested the women, and seized Pringler’s computer and a receipt indicating that Pringler had paid for the room. Pringler was arrested after a traffic stop, in possession a bill for the hotel room. He was convicted of aiding and abetting the sex trafficking of a minor, 18 U.S.C. 1591(a); 18 U.S.C. 2. The district court sentenced Pringler to 405 months’ imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release. The Fifth Circuit affirmed, rejecting challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence; the effectiveness of trial counsel and calculation of his sentence.View "United States v. Pringler" on Justia Law