Jan. 16--Two men who were members of a local rap group have been charged in federal court with using violence and coercion to force women and girls as young as 13 to work for them in a prostitution ring in Chicago and the suburbs, according to federal officials.
According to a federal complaint, Samuel "Buck" Nichols and Charles "Kash" Fears were charged with one count of engaging in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Nichols, 30, formerly of Chicago, and Fears, 22, of Chicago, worked together to recruit females, including minors, to serve as prostitutes, according to the complaint.
The men would post advertisements in the website Backpage.com to feature women and girls as young as 13 and 16 wearing lingerie and posing in sexual positions, according to the complaint. Officials said the men would provide cell phones to the females and told them to answer calls and schedule meetings with the Backpage.com customers.
The meetings primarily occurred in motels in suburbs, including Naperville, Downers Grove, Schaumburg, Lansing, Harvey, Alsip and Joliet, according to the complaint.
After performing sex acts for money, the females would turn over the cash they received from the men to Nichols and Fears.
Fears was arrested on Friday and later in the day made an initial federal court and is scheduled for a detention hearing at 11:00 am on January 22.
Nichols was arrested in Tennessee and ordered extradited to Chicago.
According to the complaint, the men carried firearms and would often hit, slap and choke the females who worked for them, including one incident in which Nichols beat a female so badly she had to be hospitalized, according to the complaint.
The pair also supplied the women and girls with drugs and alcohol so that they would commit the sex acts, the complaint states.
According to the complaint, Nichols and Fears are members of a Chicago-area rap music group called "Hit Squad." The group, posts videos of their music on websites such as YouTube.com, the complaint states.
The men face a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison if convicted.
