Inmate Led Sex and Drug Trafficking Ring from State Prison Cell

NORFOLK, Va. – A California man pleaded guilty today to organizing and running a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy and commercial sex ring from his state prison cell.

“Gaines directed a drug and sex trafficking organization from the confines of his state prison cell,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “His crime was brazen, dangerous, manipulative, and inflicted untold mental, emotional, and physical harm on some of our community’s most vulnerable individuals.”

According to court documents, Foster Shane Gaines, 42, was serving an eight-year sentence in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for prostituting an adult woman. Beginning in approximately 2016, Gaines launched a drug trafficking organization that distributed methamphetamine from a source of supply in California to co-conspirators in the Tidewater area. Using cellphones smuggled into prison, Gaines directed co-conspirators in California, Nevada, and elsewhere to mail parcels of methamphetamine to co-conspirators in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Petersburg, and elsewhere. Once the methamphetamine was distributed to customers that Gaines, at times, personally arranged using his contraband cellphones, the co-conspirators returned the proceeds from the sales to Gaines and his confederates by way of prepaid stored value cards or bulk cash sent through the mail.  

“Gaines didn’t learn his lesson. Even though he was already serving a prison sentence in California, he brazenly used contraband cell phones to lead a meth and sex trafficking conspiracy while incarcerated,” said Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Norfolk. “Thanks to HSI and our law enforcement partners, we were able to take down this drug and sex trafficking ring and rescue multiple minor victims.”

In addition to his methamphetamine trafficking, Gaines also organized and led a commercial sex ring that at times involved approximately 10 adult females and two juvenile girls. Again using his smuggled cellphones, Gaines recruited women and girls to work as prostitutes by contacting them over various social media platforms. In exchange for 40 to 50 percent of their commercial sex proceeds, Gaines created online advertisements for commercial sex, rented hotel and motel rooms, communicated with customers, organized transportation, and otherwise managed their commercial sex activities. Gaines also arranged for a professional photographer to take sexually suggestive photographs of some women for use in the commercial sex advertisements he created for them, and frequently directed his co-conspirators to provide cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, and other drugs to the women and girls prostituting. As with the proceeds from the methamphetamine sales, Gaines directed that the women and girls transmit their commercial sex proceeds to him through bulk cash mailings or prepaid stored value cards.

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is determined to protect Postal employees and thwart illegal and dangerous use of the U.S. Mail,” said Peter R. Rendina, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “Postal Inspectors will work with our law enforcement partners to pursue anyone, even those already incarcerated, who corrupt the U.S. Postal Service to further their criminal enterprises.”

Gaines pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, commonly known as “ice,” and 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, and sex trafficking of a child. Each charge carries a mandatory minimum term of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison when sentenced on Jan. 31, 2020. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, Peter R. Rendina, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, James A. Cervera, Chief of Virginia Beach Police, Col. K.L. Wright, Chief of Chesapeake Police, Larry D. Boone, Chief of Norfolk Police, and Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Darryl J. Mitchell and V. Kathleen Dougherty are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-143-1.