Man in federal court admits to sex trafficking 17-year-old

A Pulaski County man accused in a federal indictment of sex trafficking of a minor pleaded guilty Thursday morning before U.S. District Judge Brian Miller.

Treamill Shamon Gilliam, 23, of North Little Rock entered his plea to the charge, which was handed up by a federal grand jury on Sept. 11, 2020, after his arrest earlier that month by the FBI on suspicion that he had engaged in sex-trafficking a 17-year-old girl.

After Miller explained to Gilliam his rights under the law and the rights he would surrender by entering a guilty plea, he told Gilliam that the statutory penalty could result in a sentence ranging between 10 years and life in prison and a $250,000 fine, as well as five years to life on supervised release after he leaves prison.

“We have a mandatory minimum so I have to give you at least 10 years in prison,” Miller said. “Do you understand that after I give you a sentence we do not have parole in the federal system so you will not go before a parole board to get out early?”

“Yes, sir,” Gilliam responded.

“Do you understand that if I were to give you a sentence longer than what you expect,” Miller continued, “let’s say you think, ‘the judge is going to give me 10 years,’ and the government comes in and says ‘he needs life,’ and I give you, say, 15 years, that you can’t withdraw your plea.” “Yes, sir,” Gilliam said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant said the government was prepared to prove at trial that on Aug. 31, 2020, the FBI received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding a 17-year-old girl it believed was being sex-trafficked in the Little Rock area.

Bryant said information was also received regarding an online advertisement offering sexual services for money by a woman referred to by the pseudonym “Rosegold,” who was determined to be the 17-year-old who was the subject of the alert from the missing and exploited children’s center.

The advertisement, Bryant said, listed a variety of sex acts along with a comeon stating, “Top of the line you will not be disappointed. Independent men only. The girl of your dreams don’t miss out it only happens once in a lifetime. … The one you are looking for,” along with a telephone number to call.

Bryant said an undercover agent contacted “Rosegold” via text message at the number provided and arranged a meeting that same day.

“The undercover arranged for an hour with Rosegold for $200,” Bryant said.

When the undercover agent arrived at the location, the minor victim — “Rosegold” — met him and the two drove to another location where the girl, referred to as “H.F.” in the information filed by the U.S. attorney’s office, was taken into custody by Little Rock police and the FBI.

“During the interview,” Bryant said, “she advised agents that Mr. Gilliam was the user of [the phone number listed in the ad]. She disclosed that Mr. Gilliam created advertisements of her and posted them [online]. She said she had known Mr. Gilliam since 2011 and that he knew her age, particularly that she was 17 years old.”

Bryant said Gilliam made all arrangements for H.F. and that payments for her services were either made in cash or were routed through a cash app in her name that investigators found on Gilliam’s phone.

She said that later that night after H.F. was taken into custody, the undercover agent received a phone call from the number listed on the website from a man asking if his sister was OK. When asked how much for more time, Bryant said the caller told the agent that more time would be extra but then said that would be up to the girl.

“From 5 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.,” Bryant said, “the undercover had 51 missed calls from [the number].”

Under questioning from Miller, Bryant said the posted ad did not specifically mention that “Rosegold” was a minor, “but it had photographs of her, and we knew she was underage.”

Gilliam told Miller that he was unaware that the girl was underage “until it was too late.”

“At the time you were working with the 17-year-old helping her to set up the date with the undercover person,” Miller asked, “did you know at that time she was 17?”

“Yes, sir,” Gilliam admitted.

“I’m just making sure of that,” Miller said. “There are two requirements for you to plead guilty in my courtroom. … One is you have to have committed the crime, and the other is you have to decide it is in your best interests to plead guilty.”

After accepting Gilliam’s guilty plea, Miller explained the process of the U.S. probation office investigation into his background to prepare a pre-sentencing report and calculate a guideline sentencing range, a process that normally takes between 60 and 90 days. After completion and review of the report, Miller said, a sentencing hearing will be scheduled.