A Bronx, N.Y. native was sentenced to 51 months in prison Wednesday for introducing his cousin to two prostitutes, including a 14-year-old girl, that wound up working in a Norwalk-based prostitution ring.
Harry Franklin, 27, must also serve five years of supervised release for one count of transportation of an individual with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Franklin, an aspiring rapper, introduced his cousin Theodore Briggs to two girls he met in the Hunts Point section of Bronx, an area notorious for prostitution. The girls included a 14-year-old, who became Briggs’ most profitable prostitute, according to court documents.
The defense claimed that Franklin wanted to impress Briggs by introducing him to the girls, because Briggs was also a rapper and had access to a state-of-the-art recording studio. The defense further asserted that Franklin did not profit from the prostitution ring, and he did not know that the 14-year-old was underage.
Briggs was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison. Giovanni Vasquez, who is accused of driving the prostitutes across state lines to meet with customers, is awaiting sentencing.
In his sentencing memorandum, U.S. Attorney David B. Fein wrote that the 14-year-old took to the streets, because her homelife was “horrendous.”
“Tragically, working as a prostitute for Briggs was better than living at home, and safer than working for other pimps who often times beat and brutalize their victims to maintain control over them,” he wrote. “This young girl is a shell of a human being. She is scarred for life, and she continues to struggle.”