PHOENIX – LAWFUEL – Press Release Service – Kaster Tezino, 23, of North Highlands, Calif., was charged here yesterday by criminal complaint with Interstate Transportation of a Minor for Prostitution. Tezino made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrence O. Anderson in Phoenix today at 3:00 p.m.
He was detained pending a status hearing on a detention hearing/preliminary hearing on Tuesday, June 27th at 11:00 a.m. in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward C. Voss.
On June 21, 2006, Las Vegas FBI contacted Phoenix FBI regarding information they had received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, indicating that an endangered 16-year-old runaway from California may be in Phoenix with a pimp. Using internet postings, through which the minor’s “escort services” had been advertised, Phoenix Police located her at a Scottsdale, Ariz. hotel. Officers took the minor into custody after she had agreed to engage in a commercial sex act. Officers later located Tezino and two other women in a nearby room at the same hotel. Officers learned from Tezino that he had flown with the minor from Las Vegas to Phoenix the previous day.
U.S. Attorney Paul K. Charlton said of the charge, “Few crimes are as difficult to fathom as those which harm juveniles and children. We are grateful to the FBI and NCMEC for their good work on this case.”
A conviction for Interstate Transportation of a Minor for Prostitution carries a minimum penalty of five years (to a maximum of 30 years) in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. In determining an actual sentence, the assigned federal judge will consult the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.
A criminal complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the FBI in Las Vegas and Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department Vice Squad, with assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The prosecution is being handled by Bill C. Solomon, Assistant U.S. Attorney,
District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: 06-3205M
RELEASE NUMBER: 2006-110(Tezino)
