United States v. Pipkins

“Sir Charles” Pipkins and “Batman” Moore (defendants), along with 13 other Atlanta pimps, were arrested for crimes related to prostitution. Pipkins and Moore recruited women to become prostitutes with promises of money and a lavish lifestyle. The Atlanta pimps, including Pipkins and Moore, drove expensive cars and wore flashy clothes and jewelry. The pimps lured women into becoming prostitutes with housing, drugs, condoms, and money for hair and fingernail maintenance. The pimps organized their prostitutes in strict chains of command with well-defined duties. Each pimp’s head prostitute was called the bottom girl and had supervisory duties. The second in command, called the wife-in-law, assisted the bottom girl. These women handled the business and money given to them by the lower-ranking prostitutes. Strict rules governed how the prostitutes could change allegiances and switch to a new pimp’s book of business. The pimps referred to their business as the game and sold their prostitutes on the streets and through online ads for escort services. The pimps worked together to arrange parties for customers, including members of the municipal police force. The prostitutes engaged in sexual acts for $30 to $80 per trick. Some prostitutes were required to earn $1,000 per night. The prostitutes were forced to turn over all the money they earned to their pimps and to perform sexual acts with any of the pimps on command. The pimps sometimes pooled their income, swapped prostitutes, worked together to recruit adult and juvenile prostitutes, delineated separate geographic work areas to decrease competition, and engaged in price-fixing to regulate the price of their prostitutes’ services. The pimps controlled their prostitutes through psychological abuse, physical abuse, and financial need. If a prostitute angered her pimp, she was subject to physical punishment, verbal abuse, or forced sexual acts. Punishments commonly included violent beatings with belts, baseball bats, and wire hangers. As punishment, a prostitute could also be locked in a trunk or made to perform sexual acts with other prostitutes while her pimp and others watched. A grand jury returned a 265-count indictment against the pimps for their prostitution-related crimes.