Little Rock, Arkansas, Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Sex Trafficking and Related Charges

Little Rock, Arkansas, Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Sex Trafficking and
Related Charges

WASHINGTON, July 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Loretta King, Acting Assistant
Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, Jane W. Duke, U.S. Attorney
for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Thomas J. Browne, Special Agent in
Charge of the Little Rock Field Office of the FBI, announced today that
Everett Cooney waived indictment and pleaded guilty in court in Little Rock,
Ark., to a federal charge of sex trafficking an underage female. Chief U.S.
District Judge J. Leon Holmes accepted Cooney's guilty plea.

During the hearing, Cooney admitted that he knew the underage female with the
initials of "DB" was between the ages of 14 and 18 when he caused her to
engage in the commercial sex acts, from which he benefited. Pursuant to the
plea agreement, the pending indictment was dismissed upon the court's
acceptance of Cooney's plea to the sex trafficking charge. Cooney faces a
minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison. A sentencing hearing will be
scheduled by the court. Cooney remains in custody pending his sentencing.

Cooney's co-defendant, Tommy Handy, is also in custody awaiting trail. The
trial is scheduled for Oct. 5, 2009. Handy was indicted on Feb. 5, 2009, on
one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and four counts of sex
trafficking; two counts of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of
violence; and conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. Handy is also charged
with being a felon in possession of a firearm on July 25, 2005. If found
guilty on the federal charges, Handy faces a maximum sentence of life in
prison and a fine in excess of $1 million.

The case is the result of a joint investigation conducted by the FBI, the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Little Rock
Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Joe J. Volpe and Trial Attorney Jim Felte of the Civil Rights Division's Human
Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, TDD: +1-202-514-1888