Former Amarillo Resident Pleads Guilty to Attempted Child Sex Trafficking Offense

AMARILLO, Texas — Xzavion Dayshaun Ragsdale, a/k/a “Yung Billy,” 19, pleaded guilty this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Clinton E. Averitte to one count of attempted sex trafficking of a child, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Ragsdale, formerly of Amarillo, Texas, and most recently Dallas, faces a statutory penalty of not less than 10 years and up to life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  A sentencing date was not set.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Ragsdale admitted that from approximately March 30, 2015 to April 3, 2015, he attempted to recruit a 15-year-old girl to engage in commercial sex acts.

The investigation began when a Task Force Officer (TFO) with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) learned that a particular individual, later identified as Ragsdale, was using Facebook to recruit and entice teenage females for prostitution.  In March 2015, the TFO set up an undercover Facebook account representing himself as a 15-year-old female, “A.M.,” and the two exchanged messages about A.M. working as a prostitute, with Ragsdale claiming, “you can make 2500 in a week if you really put the work into it.”  Ragsdale sent A.M. his phone number and the two discussed a meeting; however, the conversation ended without any arrangements being made.

On April 1, 2015, A.M. received a private message on his undercover Facebook account from “Deswan Newsome,” a defendant in a related case.  Newsome and A.M. exchanged messages about A.M. engaging in prostitution, and A.M. advised Newsome that she was 15-years-old.

On April 2, 2015, an Amarillo Police Department officer, posing as A.M., made a phone call to Newsome, who answered, but turned the call over to a female who provided more details about prostitution to A.M.  A.M. advised the female that she was 15-years-old.

On April 3, 2015, A.M. and Newsome exchanged messages and agreed to meet at a convenience store in Amarillo so A.M. could engage in prostitution.  When Newsome arrived at the location he was identified and arrested.  He admitted talking to A.M. on Facebook and said that he was going to have someone else teach her how to perform sex acts, and that he’d get 60 percent of the money she made for performing the commercial sex acts.

Newsome, 19, of Amarillo, pleaded guilty in July 2015 to one count of attempted sex trafficking of a child.  He was sentenced in September to serve 135 months in federal prison.

The Amarillo Police Department and ICE HSI investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Frausto is in charge of the prosecution.                    

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