CHICAGO — Two members of a Chicago-area rap group have been charged with using violence and coercion to force females to engage in prostitution, federal authorities announced today.
SAMUEL NICHOLS, 30, and CHARLES FEARS, 22, are each charged with one count of engaging in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
The pair worked together to recruit females, including minors, to engage in the commercial sex business, the complaint states.
In order to solicit customers, Nichols and Fears posted advertisements on the website Backpage.com that featured photographs of the females wearing lingerie and posing in sexual positions, according to the complaint. Nichols and Fears provided the females with cellular telephones and instructed them to answer calls and schedule meetings with Backpage.com customers, according to the complaint.
The meetings primarily occurred in motels in various suburbs, including Naperville, Downers Grove, Schaumburg, Lansing, Harvey, Alsip and Joliet, according to the complaint.
After performing sex acts for money, the females gave the proceeds to Nichols and Fears, the complaint states.
Nichols and Fears carried firearms and would often hit, slap and choke the females who worked for them, including one incident in which Nichols beat a female so badly she had to be hospitalized, the complaint states.
The charge of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.
A detention hearing for Fears is scheduled for 11:00 am on January 22, 2016 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kim.
The charges were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, in coordination with the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force.
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Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Sex Crimes|Human Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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