Alleged pimp and two women charged in sex operation

An alleged pimp and two female accomplices have been charged with unlawful imprisonment and promoting the prostitution of two women at the Ramada Plaza Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The defendants allegedly posted pictures of the women scantily dressed on the advertisement website Craigslist in order to attract customers.
“The information superhighway that is the Internet has a sidewalk that the defendants are accused of using to troll for customers to have sex with two women who they put to ‘work’ in the sex trade,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “Prostitution is not a victimless crime but a terrifying and despicable offense against society practiced by callous jackals who enslave young women without hope and victimize them one day at a time.”
Thomas (a.k.a Nitty) Spann, 30, Tamisha (a.k.a Mimi) Allen, 25, and Percressa (a.k.a Sugar) Gaines, 19, all of 316 Beach 68th Street in Far Rockaway, are charged with second-degree promoting prostitution and second-degree unlawful imprisonment. Spann and Allen are also charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and Spann is additionally charged with the crimes of promoting prostitution, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and sexual misconduct.
If convicted, the defendants each face up to 15 years in prison.
The three defendants were arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Robert M. Raciti. Bail was set at $250,000 for Spann, $10,000 for Allen and Gaines was released on her own recognizance. Their next court date is April 2.
According to the charges, two women ages 20 and 25 - accompanied Spann, who they had just met, to his Far Rockaway residence on the evening of March 12, and during the early morning hours of the following day he engaged in sexual intercourse with the 25-year-old woman, despite her protests.
Later, Spann allegedly took a gun from his closet and, showing the 25-year-old that the gun was loaded, waved and pointed it so that she had to move out of the way to avoid being in the line of fire. Over the course of the day, it is alleged, the victims saw or heard Spann hit two other girls - including Gaines who is five months pregnant - and that they were constantly being watched by Gaines and Allen.
It is further alleged that when the 25-year-old asked Spann if she and her friend could leave during their first day at his residence, Spann stated, “Take a risk if you want to get some shots popped around your ass.” Spann also allegedly told Gaines and Allen that they needed to “get back on the track” because they came back to his residence without any money.
The complaints further allege that the three defendants posted photos purportedly representing the two victims on Craigslist in order to solicit customers to meet and have sex with them. Thereafter, it is alleged, various men came to the Far Rockaway apartment and engaged in oral and sexual intercourse with the two victims in exchange for money.
Finally, the complaints allege that Spann and Gaines drove the two women on March 14th to the Ramada Plaza Hotel, where they were met by Allen who had brought one of Spann’s guns - a loaded black .38 revolver. Meanwhile, it is alleged, Spann had advertised a “two- for-one” special for $160 which resulted in the 25-year-old victim and Gaines engaging in sexual intercourse with a male customer in exchange for money that went to Spann.
That same day, Spann allegedly met in the Ramada Plaza’s lobby with two other women whose photos and contact information he had posted on Craigslist in order to solicit male customers and for whom he had paid $100 toward renting their hotel room.
According to Brown, the 25-year-old managed to flee her hotel room on March 15 and alert hotel staff to call the Port Authority Police at JFK Airport.
In executing a search warrant at Spann’s Far Rockaway residence, the following items were allegedly recovered: one loaded 9 mm pistol with 12 rounds of ammunition in the magazine, one box containing 45 rounds of .38 caliber ammunition, one box containing 50 rounds of 9mm ammunition and another box containing 40 rounds of 9mm ammunition.