PAO Obtains State's First Conviction Under Washington's Human Trafficking Law

The PAO obtained Washington State's first conviction under the state's Human Trafficking statute, which requires prosecutors to prove that the defendant caused a victim to engage in "forced labor" or "involuntary servitude" for the defendant's personal gain.

Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney (DPA) Sean O'Donnell and DPA Christina Miyamasu convicted defendant DeShawn Cashmoney Clark of six of nine charged counts, including one count of Human Trafficking and Conspiracy to Promote Prostitution with a "gang aggravator" sentencing enhancement.  Clark, a member of the Westside Street Mobb, a violent street gang that recruited and forced teenage girls and young women into prostitution for the gang's financial profit, now faces 13-18 years in prison.

Clark is one of 10 defendants from the Westside Street Mobb prosecuted by either the PAO or the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District of Washington (USAO) in a partnership designed to target and dismantle this violent gang.

Earlier this year, other Westside Street Mobb gang members Shawn Clark, Mario Foster, and Gerald Jackson pleaded guilty to multiple counts of Promoting Prostitution and Promoting Commercial Sexual Abuse of a Minor.  As part of their guilty pleas, defendant Clark agreed to a nine-year prison sentence, defendant Foster a five-year prison sentence, and Defendant Jackson a four-year prison sentence.