The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District
of Pennsylvania released the below information:
PHILADELPHIA – First Assistant United States
Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Collin Cowell, a/k/a
“Tyson,” 29, was sentenced to 324 months’ incarceration and 20 years’
supervised release by United States District Court Judge J. Curtis Joyner for
his scheme to organize and manage a trafficking venture with ‘employees’ whom
he trained to sell young girls into forced sexual conduct. The defendant
is also required to register as a sex offender.
The defendant was
convicted in March 2018 of sex trafficking and aiding and abetting the sex
trafficking of three minor children, two of whom were only 15 years old, in
Philadelphia and elsewhere. He was also convicted of the distribution of
child pornography for posting a sexually explicit image of two of the young
girls on backpage.com, a website Cowell and his co-defendants used to advertise
the minors for commercial sex acts with sex buyers, which financially benefited
him directly. The defendant not only led the trafficking operation, he
trained those working under him to engage in sex trafficking.
“Cowell’s crimes were
devastating to his minor victims,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Williams.
“Today’s sentence of almost three decades incarceration reflects the
seriousness of his crimes and the irrevocable damage he caused, all in pursuit
of financial gain. We will continue to work collectively to investigate these
destructive crimes against vulnerable children.”
The case was
investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by
Assistant United States Attorney Melanie Babb Wilmoth.
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