Boston Man Previously Convicted of Sex Trafficking Pleads Guilty to Witness Intimidation

BOSTON – A Boston man pleaded guilty today to attempting to prevent a victim, to whom he exposed himself, from testifying against him in a federal proceeding. Defendant was on federal supervised release for sex trafficking at the time of the offense.

Mark Pinnock, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of witness intimidation. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for Jan. 5, 2023. Pinnock was charged in July 2023. 

In 2014, Pinnock was sentenced to eight years in prison for a sex trafficking offense and in 2022, was released and under federal supervision while working as an Amazon driver. In July 2022, while on supervised release for the 2014 sex trafficking conviction, a victim reported to local law enforcement that Pinnock exposed his penis to her while delivering a package to the condominium complex where the victim worked as a custodian. As a result, the U.S. Probation Office sought to revoke Pinnock’s term of supervised release and the Court scheduled a hearing to adjudicate Pinnock’s alleged offense.  

One week before the hearing, Pinnock sent a co-conspirator to the condominium complex on his behalf. The co-conspirator told the victim not to go to Court and stood with his hand in his pocket as if he had something in it. Pinnock also used an encrypted messaging application to send an anonymous message to the security officer at the complex to “let the cleaning lady know” she would be arrested by immigration officials if she were to go to court. Finally, Pinnock placed three separate phone calls to immigration officials in an attempt to have the victim detained for being unlawfully present in the United States. In the calls to immigration officials, Pinnock falsely claimed that he had heard the victim was gang-affiliated, among other things.

The charge of witness intimidation provides a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today.  The Brockton Police provided valuable assistance in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie A. Queenin of the Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.