NC man’s wife and mother prostituted underage girls to raise his bail money, feds say
A Charlotte woman and her mother-in-law were willing to prostitute three underage girls to scrape together bail money for the woman’s jailed husband, federal prosecutors said.
Now they’re going to prison.
Brianna Leshay Wright, 26, and her mother-in-law, Tanya Fuentes, 56, were hit with 10-and two-year prison sentences, respectively, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Wright pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a minor last year and Fuentes pleaded to related conspiracy charges around the same time. Prosecutors said the pair were carrying out a scheme arranged by Wright’s husband, Zerrell Fuentes.
“As Zerrell Fuentes previously admitted in court, while he was in jail on state charges, he recruited three underage victims, via telephone, to engage in prostitution to earn money for his bond,” according to the release.
Zerrell Fuentes was in jail on hit-and-run and gun charges at the time, the Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Between April 28, 2016, and May 8, 2016, prosecutors said Wright drove the three girls with her mother-in-law from Charlotte to Myrtle Beach. Fuentes then paid for the lodging while Wright reportedly took them to see clients and posted “prostitution advertisements” on the internet.
At least two of the girls engaged in sexual acts, prosecutors said.
Court documents show Wright and Fuentes were arrested in April 2017. They were released on $25,000 bonds at the time.
Zerrell Fuentes has not been sentenced but could face life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, according to the release.
This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 7:00 PM.
