After getting beat up by her pimp for not taking a customer’s call, a woman posted on her Facebook page a photo of her black eye, and the message, “Black eye but rockin’ it.”
Her pimp, Charles Douglas Miguel, had her meet men for paid sex in Salem and Eugene before taking her to California and to New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia to engage in prostitution for his financial benefit, according to a federal prosecutor.
On Monday, Miguel, 37, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for taking young women across state lines for prostitution, traumatizing them with use of force, defrauding them and intimidating witnesses.
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To test one woman’s loyalty, he sent text messages to her cell phone, pretending to be another pimp eager to recruit her. Because the woman responded to the call, Miguel beat her “for being disloyal and failing ‘the test,’ ” according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer J. Martin.
Miguel’s girlfriend helped find johns for the women from her Las Vegas home, where she was pregnant with Miguel’s child, according to a sentencing memo.
Two of the women he prostituted were first introduced to Miguel through Karisah Jane Dixon and Tantenia Frantasia Caldwell who they’d known from serving time with them at an Oregon Youth Authority facility, Martin wrote in the memo.
Dixon, who had a child with Miguel, and Caldwell also are accused of transporting women across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. Dixon has pleaded guilty to harboring Miguel as a fugitive after she learned of an indictment against him. Their federal cases are still pending.
In February 2012, two women working for Miguel were arrested in the Chase Suites Inn in Rockville, Maryland, where they told authorities they had made about $6,000 from prostitution there during a four-day stay. A john who was arrested said he had responded to a Backpage ad, and paid $400 to have sex with both women, according to court documents.
Around that time, one of the prostitutes posted on her Facebook page a photo of a man’s lap covered with 9 stacks of cash. The man wore a belt with a jewel-encrusted belt buckle.
Authorities found numerous new and used condoms in plain view, and a piece of paper with the website address for “eroticreview” written on it.
One victim, described as A.L. in court papers, had told her mother she wanted to leave her pimp desperately but was afraid to, and sent her mother photos of her bruises. She and her mother desperately tried to persuade Miguel to allow her to return home to attend an uncle’s funeral, but he refused, court records show. In May 2012, she was arrested near the Mexican border with another pimp and told authorities her story.
Federal agents corroborated her account through cell phone and flight records, hotel receipts, ads on Backpage.com, Facebook posts, car rental records, Amtrak train records and witness statements.
On March 25, 2014, agents raided Miguel’s home in Nevada with a search warrant.
In subsequent months, Miguel attempted to intimidate one of the prostitutes to recant her statements to law enforcement. He contacted her by phone at least 9 times in May 2014, blocking his own telephone number each time, and ultimately persuaded her that her family would be harmed if she did not recant her statements. She ended up fleeing the area, Martin wrote in her memo.
In late July, Miguel pleaded guilty to transporting women across state lines for the purpose of prostitution and witness intimidation.
“His conduct is serious and it merits a significant sentence,” Martin wrote in the sentencing memo. “Defendant’s statement to the probation officer that he is considering opening a juice bar lounge following his release from custody provides additional support for a significant custodial sentence.”
Among the belongings seized from Miguel as proceeds of his criminal activity was a $5,500 Breitling men’s diamond-studded watch.
Judge Simon sentenced Miguel to five years supervised release after he completes his 10-year sentence.
“Hopefully I’ll get out and be a better role model for my children, myself,” Miguel told the court.
Miguel has four children and hopes to work to “legally support his children,” after his sentence is completed, his defense lawyer Raymond Tindell wrote to the court.
