Hip-hop music producer Mally Mall has pleaded guilty in Las Vegas to operating a prostitution enterprise disguised as an escort business.
The 44-year-old producer (real name Jamal Rashid) entered his plea Monday in a federal criminal case that became public following an FBI raid at his Las Vegas home in September 2014.
U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich said Rashid pleaded guilty to one charge of using an interstate facility to aid unlawful activity.
Pleading guilty: Hip-hop music producer Mally Mall has pleaded guilty in Las Vegas to operating a prostitution enterprise disguised as an escort business
Rashid was accused of running the illegal operation from April 2002 to September 2014 in Clark County, Nevada.
While prostitution is legal in many parts of Nevada, these businesses need to obtain a license, and Rashid did not have one.
Rashid’s house in California’s San Fernando Valley was raided in 2014 by the FBI as part of an ongoing investigation into human trafficking charges.
Illegal: Rashid was accused of running the illegal operation from April 2002 to September 2014 in Clark County, Nevada
His home was also raided this past April as part of a dual investigation for both human trafficking and trafficking of exotic animals, though he was never arrested or taken into custody, according to TMZ.
Shortly after the April raid, he was accused of running a major human trafficking operation by three Las Vegas prostitutes, who asked the state to declare their prostitution laws unconstitutional because it violates the 13th Amendment, which prohibits slavery.
One of the prostitutes claims that Rashid’s companies, like VIP Entertainment out of Dallas, is one of many shell companies that hide his prostitution racket.
Raided: His home was also raided this past April as part of a dual investigation for both human trafficking and trafficking of exotic animals, though he was never arrested or taken into custody, according to TMZ
One of the prostitutes said that, while working for him, she got to keep 30% of the money she earned, but eventually she had to give it all to him.
”Mally Mall was entering the music industry and he was recognized as a major pimp in the illegal sex trade in Las Vegas,’ she said in the lawsuit.
Rashid’s lawyer, Steve Saddow, responded to the lawsuit by stating, ‘This is simply a nonsense lawsuit, and as such, the allegations against Mally Mall are not deserving of further comment.’
Allegations: One of the prostitutes said that, while working for him, she got to keep 30% of the money she earned, but eventually she had to give it all to him
There are also multiple sexual assault allegations against the producer.
Sources state that a woman came forward in January and claimed that she was flown out from Texas to visit Mall after he had seen her fitness videos on Instagram.
The woman then claims that he then drugged her and raped her at his home, locking her in a room.
Los Angeles authorities shared that the Wednesday raid on Mally Mall’s home came from the investigation looking into human and exotic animal trafficking along with multiple sexual assault allegations
Feeling as if she had to be ‘submissive,’ the woman shared that she had sex with Mall on the second day that she was there.
After developing a rash, the woman went to the hospital. A nurse called the hospital after witnessing that the woman had vaginal trauma.
Those close to the producer are claiming that the relationship was consensual and that the pair were inseparable for the entire weekend. These sources also claimed that the woman wasn’t in a rush to leave.
They are also asserting that there are voicemails and texts that show that the woman was motivated by money.
The charge calls for a prison sentence that could span as little as one month to as much as 33 months.
U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware scheduled sentencing for Jan. 21.
Prosecutors and Rashid’s defense attorney, David Chesnoff, say Rashid won’t have to register as a sex offender.
Mall’s home: Authorities blocked off the road outside of Mall’s home during the raid. There had been reports of ‘multiple rapes and human sex trafficking, as well as firearms on the premises’
