Accused Disneyland Pimp of Underaged Girls Pleads Not Guilty and Demands Bail
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But U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney declined to reconsider prior bail rejections for Eric Lamar Wells and Tonisha Alecia Moore, who face serious felony charges including sex trafficking of children, conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and transporting minors into prostitution.
Wells and Moore, who are not related to the minors, have a child of their own and remained in federal custody in Santa Ana.
According to federal court records, Wells and Moore used Myredbook.com and Backpage.com, an entity owned by OC Weekly's parent company, Village Voice Media, Inc., to sell the minor girls as prostitutes for as low as $90.
In the online photo ads, the girls were both portrayed as 19 year olds.
The operation was busted by on-the-ball Anaheim police, who spotted the 14-year-old girl on the street, according to court records.
When authorities learned that the girls had been sold for sex in Las Vegas, Scottsdale, Anaheim and Sacramento and Los Angeles, the state case against Wells and Moore was transferred to the Southern California Innocence Lost Task Force and federal court.
If federal prosecutor Mark P. Takla wins convictions, both defendants face potential life in prison sentences.
Carney scheduled a July 17 trial that could last more than a week.
Go HERE to read our original report of the arrests.
Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
Go HERE to read our original report of the arrests.
Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
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