TRENTON, N.J. --A man who touted himself as "Pimp of the Year" was
sentenced Friday to more than 23 years in federal prison. Matthew
"Knowledge" Thompkins pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to
transport minors to engage in prostitution and conspiracy to engage in
money laundering.
Authorities said that the Bronx, N.Y., man had prostitutes working for
him in New York; Atlantic City; Las Vegas; Philadelphia; Youngstown,
Ohio, and other cities.
http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2007/03/23/pimp_of_year_draws_lengthy_jail_term/
When he was arrested in December 2005, authorities found two huge
trophies in his home proclaiming him "Pimp of the Year."
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson asking for leniency,
Thompkins, 37, wrote that at times he and the prostitutes who worked
for him -- some of them as young as 14 -- "bonded as a family."
Wolfson was unmoved. She gave him nearly the maximum sentence.
"You wouldn't send your sister or your daughter out to do that," she
said. "That's no family."
One former prostitute, Melissa Smith, spoke at the sentencing, saying
she was practically a slave.
"If he gets out, I know he'll do it again," she said. "That's all he
ever talks about -- pimping and ho-ing."
A Thompkins associate, Demetrius Lemus, 37, of Bronx, N.Y., also was
sentenced Friday to eight years in prison.
Five women have also pleaded guilty in the case and are awaiting
sentencing.
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