A 47-year-old Las Vegas man was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison for human trafficking of a 17-year-old girl in Anaheim.
Anaheim Police Department officers responded to a report of an underage prostitute about 9:15 p.m. May 30 at the Moonlight Motel on Beach Boulevard, prosecutors said in a trial brief. The victim told police she had been working as a prostitute “for the past few days under a new pimp,” prosecutors said.
Donald Leonidas Newton III approached the victim, who had been working as a prostitute in San Diego, several times before persuading her to go with him, prosecutors said.
“At some point that day, defendant became irritated with victim for not listening to him and attempted to `pistol-whip’ her leg with a handgun, but missed,” prosecutors said.
During the trial, the victim testified that Newton pointed a gun at the victim’s head and threatened her with it instead of attempting to pistol-whip her, prosecutors said.
When Newton left her alone later she called her mother and police, prosecutors said.
Newton’s attorney, Vu Tran, said in a sentencing brief that the victim “had been working as a prostitute for a few years prior to meeting Mr. Newton.”
Newton met her in San Diego, Tran said.
The victim and her friend “were having problems with their pimp, so they decided to go with Mr. Newton and his friend `Money’ in a Tesla that Money was driving,” Tran said.
The victim “did not end up going on any dates in Orange County before she decided to call police later that same night,” Tran said.
A gun found in their motel room belonged to the victim’s friend, Tran said.
Tran said the victim “lied” about her age to Newton.
The defense requested a 5-year sentence.
Prosecutors said the victim “completed one commercial sex date in Pomona for $40, giving it all to defendant.”
While they were in Pomona, Newton saw the victim “talking to his friend … and disciplined victim by strangling her with his hand,” Deputy District Attorney James Voge said in a sentencing brief.
When the two relocated to the motel in Anaheim they smoked marijuana together and had sex, Voge said.
Newton was convicted Oct. 30 of human trafficking of a minor, pimping a minor over the age of 16, pandering with a minor older than 16, possession of a gun by a felon and a prohibited person owning ammunition, all felonies. Jurors also found true sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a gun.
Newton has a criminal history dating back to 1996 “with convictions spanning multiple states,” Voge said.
Those convictions include drugs, vehicle offenses, aggravated assault attempted pandering, Voge said.