Man sentenced for pimping girls as part of gang lifestyle

A 19-year-old Seattle man who ordered his teenage girlfriend to work as a prostitute so her earnings could pay for his clothes, video games, a car and drugs was sentenced Tuesday to 21 months in prison.

Mycah Johnson was among six members of the West Side Street Mobb charged in King County Superior Court last year in connection with a ring that forced young women into prostitution.

Several other purported gang members also are facing criminal charges in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

As part of pleading guilty to first-degree promoting prostitution, Johnson agreed to testify against the remaining five co-defendants, prosecutors said. In exchange, prosecutors sought a low-end sentence. The maximum he could have faced was two years and three months in prison.

DeShawn Clark, Shawn Clark, Thomas Foster, Gerald Jackson and Desmond Manago are slated to be tried Aug. 25 for crimes including human trafficking, promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor, promoting prostitution, assault, unlawful imprisonment and drug possession.

In plea paperwork, Johnson said that members of the West Seattle gang sold drugs and guns, committed bank fraud and forced young girls into prostitution to bolster their image among other gangs.

"Being a pimp helped me live a gang lifestyle," Johnson wrote in plea paperwork. "Being a gang that pimped out girls made the gang sound better to other gangs."

The six men were arrested after the Seattle Police vice unit arrested a 19-year-old woman who had advertised sex services on Craigslist. She said DeShawn Clark forced her to commit sex acts for money, beat her and took her earnings, charging papers said.

Johnson's sentencing is part of a series of prosecutions against the gang's purported "leadership group." In addition to those charged in King County Superior Court, five purported gang leaders are currently facing federal charges.

Prosecutors say the gang was formed only three years ago but now has 50 members and associates, and has been tied to two fatal shootings and to bank fraud.

"It's actually pretty common for street gangs to engage in fraud," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincent Lombardi.

One of the gang's founders, Demar Nelson, 22, is charged in U.S. District Court with making tens of thousands of dollars by depositing bogus checks into bank accounts and then pulling cash out of ATMs before the checks bounced.

In court last month, Lombardi said Nelson is a suspect in several shootings, including a fatal one outside Capitol Hill's Baltic Room nightclub last year.

Tyrone Antwon Bellinger and Derrick Wroten-Prentice, both 25, are charged with Social Security fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

In a detention hearing last month, prosecutors said the two are prime suspects in the February 2008 slaying of rival gang member Allen Winston-Stewart, a former student at Rainier Beach High School.

Brandon Shell, 27, is being held on federal drug and gun charges and Michael Flowers, 27, is charged in federal court with firearm possession.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com