Jury Finds Man Guilty Of Role In Prostitution Ring
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- A Ramsey County jury found a 27-year-old Brooklyn Park man guilty on Friday in connection with a human sex trafficking operation that involved numerous victims -- including women who were mentally slow or vulnerable -- across multiple Minnesota communities.
Antonio Dion Washington-Davis was found guilty of three counts of second-degree promotion of prostitution, one count of first-degree solicitation to practice prostitution, one count of second-degree solicitation to practice prostitution, and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
The jury will reconvene on Tuesday, Nov. 12 to decide aggravating factors in the case, and Washington will be sentenced on Dec. 19.
According to the complaint, the sex trafficking ring spanned nearly two years from September 2010 to July 2012.
Also charged in this case is Otis Deno Washington, 29, whose trial begins November 12, and Robert James Washington, 56 (another uncle of O. and A. Washington), who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree sex trafficking on July 12, 2013.
The defendant's uncle, Calvin Roy Washington, pleaded to one count each of second-degree sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit second-degree sex trafficking on July 15, 2013.
Antonio and Otis allegedly took drastic measures to keep their victims in line, the complaint states.
In April 2011, Antonio brought one victim to a hotel in Ely, Minn., stating it was "somewhere where you can't talk to any of your family and won't know where you are."
Another victim told investigators that both brothers "prey on young women who are mentally slow and/or vulnerable and recruit them into prostitution."
