Fort Worth woman pleads guilty in child sex trafficking case

A Fort Worth woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Dallas federal court to helping run a prostitution ring involving underage girls.

Shatara Armstrong, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of use of a facility of interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Armstrong was one of five people indicted in May on charges of conspiracy to engage in child sex trafficking.

Cases are still pending for Marquist “Keezie” Fulcher, 28; Chapolean “Kidd” Fischer, 28; Marcus Speed, 26; and Tiffany Gideon, 22.

According to court documents, Fulcher began acting as a pimp for several young girls and women in 2014. The victims included a 14-year-old, a 16-year-old and two 17-year-olds.

Armstrong began helping Fulcher in late 2015, renting rooms at hotels for the girls to use for sex, the court documents said. Armstrong also posted advertisements to Backpage.com and collected money from the girls to give to Fulcher, according to the documents.

Fulcher and Armstrong worked with Speed and Fischer, recruiting victims on the internet and trading girls among themselves, the U.S. attorney’s news release said.

Armstrong faces up to five years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine. She is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 1.

This story was originally published July 18, 2017 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Fort Worth woman pleads guilty in child sex trafficking case."