Three face federal charges related to trafficking women and minors
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Three people have been charged in federal court after being accused of prostituting women and girls out of three west side residences.
Nahtahna Garcia Herrera, a woman arrested for prostitution by Fort Wayne police in February, faces multiple charges including sex trafficking of a minor. Herrera is also a relative of one of the alleged minor victims.
Her boyfriend, Tyrece Jones, also faces charges. Herrera was using the venture to raise funds to get Jones out of jail.
A third defendant, Vaughn Isom, allegedly resided in a building called the “Sugar Shack,” a residence at 726 North Rochester Avenue in Indianapolis. It is unclear if he owned or rented the “Sugar Shack” location. He allegedly sold the victims drugs and transported them. Court documents said Isom would create supply and demand for the drugs by giving the girls drugs to developing a habit, then they would have to have sex for money in order to pay for more drugs.
Kenneth Beachem and his wife Mitzi moved into the home after the bust. They’re no longer surprised by things they found in the basement.
“They had like a little private room, had a pole in it. It had a couch. It was actually, there was a bed down there all taken apart, that they had put up in the cubby hole,” said Kenneth Beachem.
Beachem says people are still stopping by their house, “No wonder people’s knocking on the door and trying to break in and find people in the garage. Now I know who.”
The ring was also run out of a nearby duplex, at 609 and 611 Exeter Avenue.
A fourth suspect, Dale Brown, Jr., died of a drug overdose in November of 2016.
Court documents indicate Herrera would post Backpage.com ads for the girls, arranging dates for them and then taking the money. Three minor victims are mentioned in the documents. Several more adult women and Herrera herself are also listed as prostituting. Herrera allegedly tried to raise $500 in one night to get Isom out of Jail.
One minor victim said she was given marijuana, cocaine and meth.
Another minor said she ran away from home in August and was walking down the road when approached in a car by Brown and Herrera. Brown flashed a gun and told her to get in the car. She was held down and injected with drugs in between her toes. She was then forced to have sex for money over the course of several days and was told she could leave after she made $5,000. She never received any of the proceeds. She was eventually able to escape by telling her final customer that she was 17 years old and being held against her will. The customer helped her escape and took to her to her father’s house.
Investigators found Backpage.com ads that matched testimony of the victims involved.
All three suspects face up to life in prison.
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