Sex Trafficker Sentenced To 230 Years, Must Pay $608,000.00 Restitution

[Siobhan]

Robin T. Applewhite was sentenced Tuesday morning in NC Cumberland County Superior Court to a minimum of 230 years up to a maximum of 299 years in prison for "coercing" (read: forcing) women to prostitute for him, and ordered to pay
$608,000.00 restitution to the women because he didn't pay them while they were his sex workers.

A jury heard charges of human trafficking, promotion of prostitution, and conspiracy with six women, with three of the women testifying against him.
The jury convicted him on Monday of the charges involving the three women who testified and another woman who is now deceased; he was found not guilty of the charges involving the two other women who did not testify.
Applewhite was also found guilty of being a habitual felon.

Kelly Twedell of the 5 Sparrows anti-human trafficking organization in Fayetteville attended the trial. In addition to the three victims who testified against Applewhite, Twedell said, two other women provided key statements: His wife, Samantha Rivard Applewhite, and a prior victim who spoke of other incidents outside the scope of the charges he faced in this trial.

Samantha Applewhite, too, faces charges in this case. She has arranged a plea bargain with the prosecutors in exchange for her testimony. Her sentencing date has not been scheduled, a prosecutor said.

Applewhite made headlines in 2013 and 2015 with arrests on human trafficking charges in Onslow and Cumberland counties. Twedell said the gist of the Cumberland County case against Robin Applewhite was that he forced the women to perform sex services for clients. He kept the money the women earned and he gave them drugs, she said.

Applewhite first contacted the women when he saw them advertising on Backpage, a now-defunct classified advertising website that once was a central location online for prostitution, Twedell said.

When Applewhite met the women and “he saw a vulnerability,” he took advantage of it, Twedell said.

For example, two women met Applewhite at a motel in Fayetteville, she said.

“He had a pill bottle in his hand. He shook it in front of them and said, ‘Hey, do you all need drugs?’” Twedell said.

A victim testified that the pills were “roxies,” Twedell said. That is a slang term for a form a version of the oxycodone opioid.

One testified she traded sexual services for the drugs, Twedell said. “And he said, ‘Hey, I’ve got more where this came from. I’ve got houses. I can put a roof over your head. We can make a lot of money,’” Twedell recounted.

“So they were recruited,” Twedell said.

Once the women were with Applewhite, Twedell said, he kept several locked in a basement. One, who testified she made $40,000 in a month, was kept in another house, Twedell said.

Applewhite advertised the women on Backpage and “he would arrange for dates” with the clients, Twedell said. He took them to hotels and sometimes had them service clients in his house in Spring Lake, Twedell said.

“Each girl said: In exchange for heroin, they would just turn over the money from the dates,” Twedell said. Prices were $100 for 30 minutes, $250 for an hour, she said.

“So they would come over, and come back from the dates, and immediately turn over all the money. So they never had any money,” Twedell said.

Applewhite got caught in March 2015 when one of the women broke out of the basement of the home in Spring Lake and ran for help. Further charges were levied in 2016 as investigators developed the case.

At his trial, which started in mid-February, Applewhite fired his lawyer and represented himself. So it was Applewhite, and not a lawyer, who cross-examined the women he victimized.

The old saying about a lawyer who defends themselves in court has a fool for a client always hold doubly true for a legally untrained criminal who thinks they can pull off a pro se defense and win their case.
One of the agreements one faces when deciding to go for a pro se defense, is that you nullify any chance to appeal for a retrial based on "insufficient counsel", or attorney mistakes.

Applewhite claimed to have talked to the victims who did not testify, claiming, “and I personally accepted their apologies for making accusations when they were sick on heroin, and they told me they had no choice, they didn’t want to come.”

While these women will probably never see a dime of the restitution Applewhite was ordered to repay them, Applewhite himself will have a very long time to think about his actions and envy the freedom that the women he used continue to have, and that can be the best revenge of all.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/2...s-230-years-ordered-to-pay-608000-restitution

Thanks to @ghosttruck for this article!

 

[G1rlVeteran]

"The old saying about a lawyer who defends themselves in court has a fool for a client always hold doubly true for a legally untrained criminal who thinks they can pull off a pro se defense and win their case."

I have wondered if any of the morons who have decided to defend themselves ever tried to refuse to be questioned about their crimes based on attorney client privilege????

 

[notchback]

I think the restitution thing is pretty dumb. Like a pimp is going to be saving all the money his girls bring in. That money was gone long ago. He gave them what they wanted. Drugs.That was their deal.