They trafficked women from Arizona to Tri-Cities. Now ‘pimps’ must pay victims $163,000

Two men forced women to have sexual encounters with up to 10 “johns” a day, pimping them out from Arizona to the Tri-Cities.

Robert S. Tillman and Brandon C. Campbell often threatened the victims with a gun, and made them use methamphetamine to stay awake with customers.

Now, the convicted human traffickers must pay the three women. One victim was just 17.

“Judge (Sal) Mendoza’s sentence sends a clear message not only to the traffickers themselves, but also to potential customers who seek out children or adults for sex online,” said William D. Hyslop, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. “These victims are human beings who have been threatened, beaten and coerced at the point of a gun to engage in commercial sex acts.”

Tillman, 30, and Campbell, 23, must pay $163,200 — $81,600 each — to two women. Tillman was ordered to pay an additional $20,400 to a third victim.

The restitution order was signed Monday in U.S. District Court by Judge Sal Mendoza Jr., who noted that the men’s conduct was physically, emotionally and psychologically damaging to their victims.

Tillman of Sacramento, Calif., was sentenced earlier this summer to a 15-year term in federal prison.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and had eight other sex trafficking-related charges dismissed.

Campbell of Troy, N.Y., is serving 7 1/2 years.

He pleaded guilty to sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and had six related charges dismissed.

Both men will be on supervised release for five years after they get out of the Bureau of Prisons.

“Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, and it cannot be tolerated in a just society,” Hyslop said in a news release.

Several states

Tillman and Campbell started their scheme in Phoenix and Utah and eventually ended up in Washington state, in Pasco and Wenatchee, according to court records and federal prosecutors.

The pair posted online advertisements and then forced the victims to engage in prostitution acts at hotel rooms throughout Eastern Washington, said Hyslop.

Tillman would use a gun to force the victims to comply with his specific instructions. Meanwhile, Campbell guarded the hotel room doors.

The men sometimes hid in the room’s bathroom to rob unsuspecting “johns” while brandishing the gun or threatening them with violence. That practice is known as “trapping” or “tricking,” he said.

The customers were charged at least $200 an hour, and the victims were forced to be with six to 10 a day, often seven days a week, according to federal prosecutors.

“Tillman and Campbell kept the money that their victims were forced to earn at their direction,” Hyslop said in his news release. “In only a few months, they profited more than a hundred thousand dollars.”

‘Pimp’ lived in luxury

At a February 2019 court hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Herzog said Tillman lived “a life of luxury” with new clothes, jewelry and other goods.

Herzog told the court that, according to the victims, Tillman would refer to himself as a pimp and a Piru, which is a California-based gang and also a backronym for Pimps in Red Uniforms.

One adult woman told investigators she ran into Tillman at the Rodeway Inn in Pasco and asked him for a cigarette.

Two days later she noticed a certain “tall woman” was no longer with Tillman, and he said she was gone because she could no longer make money for him, Herzog said. Tillman then pointed a gun at the woman and said she had to “turn tricks” for him or he would hurt her friends, he said.

Tillman took the women city to city throughout Eastern Washington, often traveling by Uber or taxi. Herzog mentioned hotels in Pasco, Kennewick, Yakima and Wenatchee.

Tillman made the women have unprotected sex, and would get violent. The women reported being hit, threatened with a gun and, once, he fired a gun out a hotel window.

He knew that one of the girls was underage, but said everyone had to be told she was 19 because he couldn’t be involved with minors, said Herzog.

Three different victims corroborated each others’ statements, along with hotel and phone records and conversations found in Tillman’s Facebook accounts, he said.

Tillman lived in Arizona for six months and was arrested at a homeless tent city in the Seattle area.

His lawyer at the time, Adam R. Pechtel of Kennewick, said Tillman had become heavily addicted to meth in early 2018 and was in need of inpatient treatment.

Hyslop commended the work of Homeland Security Investigations agents from the Yakima office, and thanked Richland’s Support, Advocacy & Resource Center for its “unwavering support of victims.”

“It is a priority of the United States Attorney’s Office to protect all women and girls from sexual exploitation,” said Hyslop. “Human traffickers in Eastern Washington should know that federal agents are actively looking for them and are waiting for them in every online forum from Craigslist to SkipTheGames.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 11:28 AM.