York Co. deputies awarded for work leading to charges in human trafficking case

Two York County Sheriff’s Office deputies received Awards of Merit for their first federal human trafficking case in South Carolina.

On Sept. 15, 2014, Sgts. Terry Vinesett and Phillip Aldridge responded to a prostitution complaint at a hotel off Carowinds Boulevard in Fort Mill, according to a sheriff’s office press release.

According to the announcement, the deputies discovered two female prostitutes and a male associate. After learning one of the females was underage, they called Special Agent Dave Dawson of the FBI in Charlotte, N.C.

The investigation revealed the male, Martin Meggett, was a pimp working with prostitutes for more than a year and had been working with the underage female for several months, the release states.

The case uncovered Meggett used several backpage.com advertisements posted in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, and according to the release, this information helped identified several other females who worked as prostitutes with Meggett in the past, as well as his recruitment of victims.

On April 22, 2015, Meggett was indicted on federal human trafficking charges. Meggett pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor. He was sentenced Feb. 9, 2016, to 10 years of incarceration, 10 years of supervised release and also required to register as a sex offender, the release states.

In January 2014, the sergeants had requested human trafficking training, based partly on the number of prostitution complaints in the Carowinds Boulevard area, according to the announcement.

This story was originally published January 14, 2017 at 4:23 PM with the headline "York Co. deputies awarded for work leading to charges in human trafficking case."