Pleasantville Pimp Convicted of Prostituting Minors

CAMDEN – A Pleasantville man was convicted by a federal jury today for transporting minor females from Allentown, Pa., to the Atlantic City vicinity for the purpose of having them engage in prostitution, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

After two and one half hours of deliberations, which began today, a jury convicted Kevin R. Mayfield, 27, of all three counts contained in the federal Indictment, which was returned on Oct. 9, 2007. Mayfield was convicted of one count each of conspiracy to transport minors to engage in prostitution; transportation of a minor to engage in prostitution; and advertising and promoting material containing an obscene visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

U.S. District Judge Renée M. Bumb, who presided over the six-day trial, scheduled sentencing for Dec. 29. The case was tried by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason M. Richardson.

According to the Indictment, in May 2007 Mayfield conspired with Casson L. Coward, 25, also of Pleasantville, to recruit two minor females in Allentown, Pa., and then transported the girls to Atlantic City/Pleasantville vicinity to make them work as prostitutes.

On Nov. 2, 2007, Coward pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Renée M. Bumb to a one-count Information charging conspiracy to transport minors in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution.

During the trial, the jury heard the testimony of 10 government witnesses, including the two minor female victims, and viewed numerous pieces of evidence, including nude pictures of the minor females, which were taken by Mayfield and Coward and then posted on an internet site called Craigslist in an advertisement of prostitution services.

The jury heard testimony that Coward met the two minor girls in Allentown, Pa., in May 2007. In the beginning of June 2007, Coward and Mayfield discussed returning to Allentown to pick up the minor girls so that they could work as prostitutes in Atlantic City. On June 5, Coward returned to Allentown and met with the two minor girls. Later that evening, Coward took the girls to a motel in the Allentown area and then called Mayfield to have him meet them at the motel. After Mayfield arrived at the motel, Coward discussed “the Game,” that is the business of prostitution, with the girls and Mayfield. After spending the night with the minors at the motel, Coward drove one of the girls to the Atlantic City area, while Mayfield drove the second minor to the Atlantic City area.

In convicting the defendant, the jury found that Mayfield, along with Coward, transported the minor girls to the Atlantic City vicinity with the intent that they work as prostitutes, and took nude pictures of them to advertise them as prostitutes. The girls received telephone calls from men soliciting sex.

Mayfield surrendered to state authorities on June 14 and was released on bail on the state charges. Separate federal complaints were signed against Coward and Mayfield on July 5, 2007. Mayfield, was arrested on federal charges on July 10, 2007, by Special Agents of the FBI and the Ventnor Police Department.

The charge contained in Count One, conspiring to transport minors to engage in prostitution, carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years and a statutory maximum prison term of life and a $250,000 fine. Count Two, which charges transportation of a minor to engage in prostitution carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years and a statutory maximum prison term of life and a $250,000 fine. The charge in Count Three, advertising and promoting, in interstate commerce, material containing an obscene visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 5 years and a statutory maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Bumb will consulted the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

On Aug. 4, 2008, Judge Bumb sentenced Coward to 125 months in federal prison and also ordered him to serve supervised release for the rest of his life.

Christie credited Special Agents of FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun, in Newark, and Troopers with the N.J. State Police, under the direction of Colonel Joseph R. Fuentes, Superintendent, with the investigation.

Christie also thanked Special Agents with the FBI’s Allentown Resident Agency and Police Officers with the Police Departments of Atlantic City, Ventnor, and Allentown for assisting with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Richardson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.

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Defense Attorney: Mark Catazaro, Esq. Moorestown