EVERETT — An Everett man who ran an Internet-based prostitution ring as a way to avoid paying child support to his 18 children was a pimp who used women to live a lavish lifestyle, full of high-end jewelry and expensive clothing, a jury decided on Wednesday.
Jerome Todd, 29, once bragged that he was “pimpin’ all over the world.” He now faces decades behind bars.
A federal jury deliberated for a day after a seven-day trial and found Todd guilty of five federal sex-for-sale crimes, including sex trafficking and one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
Jurors were told that Todd befriended and recruited women and then used violence and intimidation to force them to engage in prostitution. He advertised the women on Craigslist, rented motel rooms for them to work in and forced the women to hand over money they made.
Police estimated that Todd may have earned up to $300,000 over two years.
Todd told the women he needed them to earn money for him because he didn’t want to work or pay child support to the mothers of his numerous children, according records filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Todd owes at least $70,000 to at least seven different women for his kids, according to Snohomish County Superior Court records. Any payments Todd made in recent years likely came from the women who worked for him, police said. One woman told detectives Todd stashed cash in boxes at home because he was afraid if he used a bank, the state would seize the money to pay off back child support, according to court records.
Everett detectives first began investigating Todd in March 2007 after a woman reported seeing her daughter’s picture on Craigslist, advertising that she was selling sex. Todd allegedly assaulted her daughter and refused to let her see family. Just a couple months later, another mother told police her daughter was being held against her will and working as a prostitute for Todd.
Investigators spoke with both women, who reported that Todd recruited them to be prostitutes and imposed strict rules.
He bought them lingerie and gave them cell phones to call him when clients arrived and after they were done, according to court records.
The women told investigators he prohibited them from having any contact with their family or friends and threatened to harm them if they broke the rules. Both woman also reported that Todd assaulted them and threatened to hurt them if they left.
Another woman told police that Todd told her she was nothing and insisted that she was his property and she’d regret not working for him, according to court papers.
Todd was arrested in 2007 after police searched two apartments where he was known to stay.
He was on probation for bank fraud in the 1990s. His probation officer reported that Todd didn’t have any employment history but often arrived at the probation office in a lavish vehicle driven by different women. He always seemed to have money on him, according to the probation officer.
The officer found a picture of Todd along with the caption “pimpin’ all over the world” on his MySpace account.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
