Inmate banned from phones after he reportedly ordered a prostitute to earn his bail

A man arrested last year for allegedly recruiting young women into prostitution has been banned from using the telephones inside the King County Jail because he is accused of committing new crimes from behind bars.

Shawn Clark, 20, faces trial later this month, but he has continued using the jail phones to order one young woman to earn enough cash through prostitution to bail him out, according to King County prosecutors. On Friday, King County Superior Court Judge Helen Halpert raised his bail from $250,000 to $1 million and said that Clark may call only his attorney from jail.

Clark was among six men arrested last year when Seattle police vice officers conducted a sting operation and arrested a 19-year-old woman who had advertised sexual services on Craigslist. Officers soon learned about other teenagers and young women being used as prostitutes.

Two of the six men have pleaded guilty — the most recent plea came on Monday. Five of the six are believed to be members of the West Side Street Mobb, a Seattle street gang, police and prosecutors said.

Desmond Manago, who pleaded guilty on Monday, faces more than three years in prison when he's sentenced on Aug. 25 for promoting prostitution, prosecutors said. Manago said in plea paperwork that he's not a member of the West Side Street Mobb but admitted "pimping" girls for the past four years.

"All of my money comes from pimping, selling drugs or hustling," Manago, 21, said in the court documents.

On July 17, West Side Street Mobb member Mycah Johnson, 19, pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution. Johnson will testify when Shawn Clark and fellow West Side Street Mobb members DeShawn Clark, Thomas Foster and Gerald Jackson are tried together on Aug. 25 for crimes including human trafficking, promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor, promoting prostitution, assault, unlawful imprisonment and drug possession.

Manago is not expected to testify against the West Side Street Mobb members, prosecutors said.

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