Chicago Man Sentenced For Sex Trafficking Teen From DCFS Group Home
CHICAGO — A Chicago man was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for trafficking a teenager to Wisconsin and forcing her into prostitution. William McBeth, 39, also known as Tony, was indicted in February 2021 on charges of sex trafficking of a minor and transporting her across state lines for purposes of prostitution. McBeth pleaded guilty in April to one count of interstate transportation of an individual with the intent to engage in prostitution. An earlier charges had a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, but the amended charges each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years instead.According to court records, McBeth spent about a week with a 15-year-old girl in December 2015, during which he forced her to have sex with strangers for money — in places like an Elk Grove Motel 6 and a Travel Inn in Broadview — and pocketed the estimated $5,000 they paid her. McBeth, also known as "Tony," admitted in his guilty plea that he picked up the teen from the Department of Children's and Family Services group home where she lived, bought her makeup, drove her around to engage in prostitution and provided her with alcohol, marijuana, condoms and new clothes. Prosecutors sought a sentence of 18 years in prison, citing the "heinous" nature of the crime.Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Peterson said the girl, who had told McBeth she was 19, repeatedly asked to go home but he did not take her. Peterson said in a sentencing memo that the girl lived apart from her younger sisters, who were also in DCFS custody, and wanted to buy winter coats and Christmas presents for them."Instead of accomplishing her holiday goal, [the 15-year-old], at [McBeth's] direction, had sex with men in their apartments and houses in exchange for money. [McBeth], not [the teen], kept almost all of the thousands of dollars she earned. He gave her drugs and alcohol to keep her working. He used the money she earned to buy himself a car," Peterson said. "And on Christmas Eve, he took her back to the DCFS group home, giving her little more than $100 and leaving her with a lifetime of emotional scars."In one case, the girl was left bleeding from an encounter with a man who did not speak any English and, in another, was restrained by McBeth's accomplice as she pickpocketed a customer."[McBeth] repeatedly put [the teen] in harms’ way for his own profit. When she needed help from a violent customer, he didn’t help her. And his girlfriend," according to Peterson, "did not help [the girl] either. Instead, she too victimized [her], holding her down and forcing her to continue to engage in a sex act with a 'creepy' stranger."Court documents detail how McBeth and his girlfriend had been banned from the Broadview motel after employees noticed they were showing up with young girls and apparently involved in prostitution. Jonathan Bedi, McBeth's court-appointed attorney, argued in favor of sentence of 100 months — less than eight and a half years. "William is not the same person he was in 2015. In the years after this offense and before his arrest, he completely withdrew from all criminal activity, got sober, and did nothing but concentrate on building a supportive life for his family and daughter," Bedi said.According to Bedi, McBeth completely turned his life around and cut off contact with the criminal underworld during the five years between the conduct for which he is convicted and the time he was indicted."At the time of these offenses, drugs had taken over William’s life. He had lost perspective and any sense of morality," Bedi argued. "William did not use the proceeds from this case to buy cars, a house, clothes, shoes, or even food. He used the funds to buy drugs. His need for drugs guided his actions, and the illegal activity he participated in was the way he saw to obtain these drugs"However, according to an affidavit from FBI agent Tenzin Atsatsang, McBeth and the girl went together to a Lexus dealership in Arlington Heights, where he used $2,000 in cash, fake paystubs and the address of a Chicago Public School to finance the purchase of a car."In William’s words, 'I feel like a lot of bad choices I made in my life was because of being on drugs.' He also recalled that when he was high, 'I didn’t think about consequences' and ' I [now] take full responsibility for everything I did,'" according to the defense sentencing memo. "Ultimately, William says, 'I want to show society that I can be the person I want to be.'"In addition to sentencing him to a dozen years in federal prison, U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama on Thursday ordered McBeth to pay nearly $66,600 in restitution to his victim.The article Chicago Man Sentenced For Sex Trafficking Teen From DCFS Group Home appeared first on Chicago, IL Patch.
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