California Man Pleads Guilty To Transporting An Individual To Engage In Prostitution

ALBUQUERQUE – Marcus Edward Michael Todd Moore, 34, of Santa Rosa, Calif., entered a guilty plea this morning to a felony information charging him with transporting an individual in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution. The guilty plea was entered under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Moore was arrested in Santa Rosa, Calif., in July 2012, on a criminal complaint filed in Las Cruces federal court charging Moore with attempting to entice a minor to engage in prostitution. According to the criminal complaint, in June 2012, Moore met a woman who claimed to be 17 years of age on a social networking Internet site and began the process of grooming her to travel to California for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. Unbeknownst to Moore, the woman was working with the FBI.

In mid-July 2012, Moore had a series of telephone conservations with the woman, which were consensually recorded by the FBI. During those conversations, Moore discussed paying for the woman to travel to California to engage in prostitution; the amount of money and other benefits the woman would receive, including a new car, her own apartment, regular shopping sprees; and the prospect of “working” overseas. On July 17, 2012, Moore purchased a one-way bus ticket for the woman to travel from Las Cruces, N.M., to Oakland, Calif.

During this morning’s hearing, Moore admitted purchasing a bus ticket for an individual to travel from Las Cruces to Oakland for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.

Moore has been on conditions of release since his arrest in July 2012, and will continue to remain out on those conditions pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Moore faces up to 24 months in prison followed by at least three years of supervised release when he is sentenced. Moore will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mick I.R. Gutierrez of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.