Local Men Plead Guilty to Trafficking High School Girls

Update, June 26:

Jefferies is to be sentenced by United States District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema on July 6. 

Original Story: 

A Woodbridge man and a Springfield man pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to participating in a prostitution business that recruited and trafficked high school girls.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia’s office, the two men are associated with the Underground Gangster Crips based in Fairfax County.

“Today, Michael Tavon Jefferies, aka 'Loc,' 21, of Woodbridge, VA, and Christopher Sylvia, 23, of Springfield, VA, pled guilty to sex trafficking of a juvenile,” read a press release from Attorney Neil H. MacBride. “They each face a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years and a maximum penalty of life in prison.”

Jefferies has been scheduled for a July 6 sentencing before U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema. Sentencing for Sylvia has been set for July 20 before U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee. 

“According to a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Jefferies admitted to being a member of UGC and that the gang engaged in sex trafficking of juveniles and adults from April 2009 through March 2012,” reads the release. “He served as a bodyguard for the UGC prostitution enterprise and collected the proceeds received from prostitution, providing a portion to another member of UGC and keeping a portion for himself.”

The release also stated that Jefferies “admitted to paying for an advertisement on Backpage.com to solicit customers and paying for hotel rooms for one of the juvenile prostitutes.”

This case was investigated by the Fairfax County Police Department and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, with assistance from the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Birnbaum from the Virginia Attorney General’s Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Inayat Delawala are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.