Man gets 3 years in prison for pimping in a Costa Mesa hotel
A 22-year-old Stockton man received a three-year sentence in state prison this week for pimping a woman in a Costa Mesa hotel.
Raymello Edward Brown pleaded guilty in Orange County Superior Court Tuesday to one felony count of pimping with a sentencing enhancement for being armed with a gun.
Three other felony charges related to pandering, being in possession of ammunition and possession of a firearm by a felon, as well as a sentencing enhancement for being armed with a gun in commission of a felony, were dismissed, according to court records.
Prosecutors allege that Brown traveled with an unidentified woman from Stockton to Costa Mesa so the woman could engage in prostitution.
He also posted sexually explicit advertisements of the woman on websites known for soliciting commercial sex, according to a news release from the Orange County district attorney’s office.
On July 5, undercover officers with the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force — a partnership of several Orange County police agencies, the FBI, the district attorney’s office and nonprofits — arranged to meet with the woman at a hotel on Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa.
Brown was in a neighboring hotel room and attempted to contact the woman while she talked with authorities.
When officers arrested Brown at the hotel, he was in possession of more than $3,000 in cash, a loaded firearm and ammunition, according to the news release.
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Hannah Fry, hannah.fry@latimes.com
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
