Louisiana – On July 17, 2024, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans disclosed that Maceo Roberts, a 25-year-old individual from Memphis, Tennessee, admitted guilt in front of United States District Judge Susie Morgan in Louisiana for conspiring to engage in sex trafficking of minors and others through force, fraud, and coercion, which goes against various sections of Title 18 of the United States Code.
Court documents indicate that in approximately the summer of 2020, Roberts informed his co-conspirators, Dominique Peeples and Jeremy Talbert, that he was earning a significant amount of money as a pimp and offered to mentor them in the same trade. Subsequently, after Peeples and Talbert agreed, Roberts passed on Minor Victim 2, a minor female born in 2003 who had previously engaged in commercial sex acts under his guidance, to Peeples. Following this, Minor Victim 2 introduced Talbert to Minor Victim 3, another minor female born in 2003, who began engaging in commercial sex acts under Talbert’s supervision.
In the summer of 2020, Roberts, Peeples, and Talbert traveled to various locations in the southern United States, including New Orleans, with several females, including Minor Victim 2, Minor Victim 3, and Adult Victim 1. Their purpose was to engage the females in commercial sex acts. Roberts taught Peeples and Talbert how to manage and promote a prostitution operation, including setting prices, and instructed them to keep all the profits. During this time, Adult Victim 1 engaged in numerous commercial sex acts under the direction of Roberts, while Minor Victim 2 and Minor Victim 3 did the same under the supervision of Peeples and Talbert, respectively.
Around October 2020, Roberts took charge of Minor Victim 3, making her work long hours engaging in commercial sex acts and forcing her to hand over all her earnings. Roberts physically assaulted Adult Victim 1 in front of Minor Victim 3 as a warning. Additionally, Roberts supplied drugs and alcohol to both Minor Victim 3 and Adult Victim 1 in order to manipulate their actions.
In October 2020, Talbert recruited a fourteen-year-old girl (Minor Victim 1) to engage in prostitution under his control. Later that month, Roberts, Peeples, and Talbert, along with Adult Victim 1, Minor Victim 1, and Minor Victim 2, traveled to New Orleans where they stayed for several months. During this period, Roberts, Peeples, and Talbert oversaw the commercial sex activities of Adult Victim 1, Minor Victim 2, and Minor Victim 1 respectively. Roberts also set rules and quotas for Adult Victim 1, threatening physical harm if she did not comply.
In January 2021, Roberts physically assaulted Adult Victim 1 to the point where she needed to be hospitalized in a facility in New Orleans. After Adult Victim 1 was released from the hospital, Roberts and Peeples promised to take her and Minor Victim 2 back to Memphis but instead took them to Houston where they forced them to participate in commercial sex activities. Eventually, they managed to escape. Roberts and Peeples later found Adult Victim 1 and Minor Victim 2 in Memphis and subjected them to further abuse and threats.
In late January 2021, Roberts met and began persuading Adult Victim 2 to participate in commercial sex acts under his control. She continued to do so until around April 2022, performing various sex acts in multiple locations at Roberts’ direction, such as New Orleans, Memphis, Houston, Dallas, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Biloxi. Adult Victim 2 gave most, if not all, of the money she earned from these acts to Roberts. He physically assaulted, threatened, and exploited Adult Victim 2, with a particularly violent incident in November 2021 at a hotel in the New Orleans area recorded on a telephone. In April 2022, just before his arrest, Roberts punched Adult Victim 2 so hard that he broke her front teeth.
Roberts could potentially receive a sentence of life imprisonment, followed by supervised release for a period ranging from five years to life. Additionally, he may face a fine of up to $250,000, as well as a mandatory $100 special assessment fee. He will also be obligated to register as a sex offender and pay restitution to his victims. Sentencing by Judge Morgan is set for October 8, 2024.
Talbert and Peeples have admitted to committing sex trafficking offenses. Talbert will be sentenced by Judge Africk on October 2, 2024, while Peeples will be sentenced by Judge Vance on October 30, 2024.
This case was part of a national effort called Project Safe Childhood, which was started in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to address the increasing problem of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project is led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and it brings together federal, state, and local resources to find, arrest, and prosecute individuals who harm children, as well as to help and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For information on internet safety education, go to www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the “resources” tab.
The investigation into this matter was praised by U.S. Attorney Evans, who commended the efforts of the FBI, NOPD, and MPD. Maria Carboni from the Financial Crimes Unit and Jordan Ginsberg, who heads the Public Integrity Unit, are leading the prosecution.
An arrest is an indication that probable cause exists to believe the subject was involved in the offense alleged. All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.