Two Men Enter Guilty Pleas In Federal Court To Charges Related To Child Sex Trafficking

TULSA, Okla. — United States Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr. announced guilty pleas in Federal court by two men on charges related to sex trafficking stemming from investigations by the Tulsa Police Department’s Vice Unit.

Damian Dashane Wardell, 39, of Tulsa, pleaded guilty before United States District Court Judge Claire V. Eagan to Sex Trafficking of a Child. Wardell admitted he maintained and prostituted a 16-year-old female at a local Tulsa area motel. Tulsa Police Department officers found and arrested Wardell at the motel after the victim’s mother provided information. Police discovered the victim and two other juvenile females in the motel room. Wardell faces a minimum sentence of ten (10) years and up to life imprisonment. Sentencing is set for August 6, 2014.

Wardell’s plea follows a guilty plea on April 25, 2014 by Terrance Cortez Whitfield, 36, of Muskogee, to a single-count Information charging Coercion and Enticement of a Minor. Whitfield also faces a minimum sentence of ten (10) years and up to life imprisonment and his sentencing is set for August 4, 2014, before United States District Judge Claire V. Eagan. Whitfield was arrested following a routine traffic stop, after which police officers discovered a juvenile female in Whitfield’s vehicle. An ensuing investigation led to evidence that Whitfield used his cell phone and the Backpage.com website to entice and induce the juvenile female to engage in prostitution.

United States Attorney Williams commended the excellent work by the Tulsa Police Department’s Vice Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Trent Shores and Clint Johnson prosecuted the matters on behalf of the United States of America.