On trial for murder, pimp describes his job as ‘babysitting’

Accused human trafficker admits to ‘unorthodox’ behavior toward women

MARTINEZ >> When Deandre Lewis raised his right hand and swore to tell the truth Monday, no one who attended court could have guessed what was coming next.

Lewis testified for two days to refute charges that he was a ruthless human trafficker who beat, kidnapped and tortured women under his control, and that he coerced one woman to commit suicide. But at times, he sounded more like he was giving a free seminar on how to become a financially successful pimp.

“Pimping requires babysitting. You have to constantly be there,” Lewis said on the stand Monday, before delving into an intensive lesson on the sex trade.

Lewis is fighting charges that he murdered a woman by coercing her to shoot herself in the head. The case is largely based on the testimony of other former sex workers who say that Lewis forced them to put guns to their head and pull the trigger.

Lewis also faces torture and aggravated mayhem charges that allege he ordered another woman to be sliced and scalped, over a recorded jail call. During that call, Lewis told co-defendant Rachel Smith, “I want that (expletive) baldheaded,” and told her to make the victim think she was going to die, “but don’t take it to that ultimate point … there’s too much evidence.”

Lewis readily admitted that he ordered the woman’s head to be shaved, an act he called “wrong” before adding he wouldn’t try to justify it. But he said the reason he did so was her lies and an argument over money from an insurance scam, not prostitution.

Lewis also explained the tricks of the sex trade, telling jurors that Thursday, Friday and Saturday were the most lucrative days for prostitution, and describing how pimps would use a technique called “sweating” to recruit new sex workers. Lewis appeared intimately familiar with the technique but insisted he never used it.

If you see a woman walking along the street, “You basically harass her. Whatever you can say to throw her off … ‘hey (expletive), or ‘hey cutie’ or anything vulgar,” Lewis said. “If she looks at you, she’s basically granted you a job interview … that’s when you can put hands on a female.”

Contrary to the prosecution’s contention that Lewis beat women, raped them at gunpoint and held them to a quota, Lewis insisted that he and the prostitutes who worked “with” him were “a family,” and allowed to choose what they wanted to charge, and whether they wanted to have sex with clients.

“I guess you could say it’s very unorthodox … I would let the girls control the show,” Lewis said during direct examination Monday. He brushed off a police prosecution witness who testified about human trafficking as “a joke” and “a so-called expert.”

As he went along, Lewis at times sounded like a financial planner; he quoted commonly used self-help phrases, told the jury he required sex workers to get a job and establish checking and saving accounts, and described prostitution as a “short-term hustle” to “achieve a bigger (financial) means.”

“Failing to plan is planning to fail,” Lewis said. He would tell them, “Think big, the sky’s the limit,” and he used “sugar, not vinegar,” to get his way, he claimed.

Prosecutor Chad Mahalich aggressively cross-examined the defendant, and it didn’t take long before their mutual animosity became apparent.

“That’s Mr. Mahalich to you,” Mahalich shot back at one point when Lewis referred to him as “Chad.”

Mahalich questioned Lewis about statements he’d made suggesting that when he lied to the police, he would intensively rehearse, and that he learned to include as much truth in his lies as possible. Lewis insisted that several sex workers had gotten his nickname, “Dre,” tattooed on their bodies because they wanted to, not because he forced them as prosecutors allege.

“They can say a bunch of (expletive), but I’m being open and honest with you guys,” Lewis told jurors at one point. “I’m not holding nothing back.”

When it came to the chilling jail calls, where Lewis — from his Marsh Creek jail cell — directed Smith to stab the woman and make her think she was going to die, Lewis said it was just “manipulation.”

“That was a ploy, a tactic to get to the truth,” Lewis said, later adding, “I’ve got nothing to hide from the jury … I’m not trying to justify it.”

The trial will break for the holidays, and is expected to resume in early January, when the defense will rest and the case will go to jurors.