MEMPHIS, TENN. – Today, U.S. Senior District Judge Jon Phipps McCalla sentenced Laron Matlock, age 33, of Memphis, TN, to 15 years of imprisonment for sex trafficking of a minor, announced Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee; Leslie R. Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Criminal Division; and Todd McCall, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Matlock, with the assistance of a co-defendant, facilitated the travel for a sixteen year old minor to travel from Chicago, Illinois to Memphis in July 2012 for the purpose of prostitution. Matlock then transported the minor from Memphis to Nashville, Tennessee, where she engaged in prostitution as a result of her being promoted on www.backpage.com. Matlock facilitated the online advertisement by paying the cost associated with the posting. Matlock thereafter drove the minor back to Memphis and, before he was arrested, transported her to a customer's home in an attempt for her to engage further in prostitution.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian K. Coleman and Trial Attorney Mi Yung Park with the Department of Justice's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) represented the United States in the case. This case is a result of investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Memphis Division, the Civil Rights Human Trafficking Taskforce and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department.