The trial of a Little Rock boxer indicted on sex trafficking charges by a federal grand jury began Monday with jury selection, opening statements and testimony from two prosecution witnesses.
Keshawn Boykins, 27, known in boxing circles as "Turbo" and to federal authorities as "Turbo Hefner," was indicted in May 2019 on drug and firearms charges. A superseding indictment in January 2020 added one count of sex trafficking of a minor and a second superseding indictment in November 2021 added two additional sex trafficking counts.
A third superseding indictment handed up last March charged Boykins with two counts of sex trafficking and one count each of production of child pornography and distribution of child pornography.
Boykins was scheduled to enter a plea Thursday. But on Friday he asked U.S. District Judge James M. Moody to allow him to dismiss Mark Allen Jesse, his court-appointed attorney, and hire private counsel for his case. However, in a pre-trial conference Monday before jury selection began, Boykins elected to keep Jesse as his attorney.
Also, during the pre-trial conference, Moody granted a government motion asking that Boykins not be allowed to reference any plea negotiations held before trial, any potential sentence he faces if convicted, or the fact that he is being held by the U.S. Marshals Service in pre-trial detention.
Boykins faces mandatory minimum sentences on all four counts charged in the third superseding indictment. If found guilty, he could potentially spend the rest of his life in prison.
Following jury selection and opening statements by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant and by Jesse, the government put on its first two witnesses. An FBI agent from New Orleans testified about sex trafficking terms and how young girls and boys are lured into prostitution. One of Boykins' alleged victims, a 22-year-old woman, told jurors that Boykins tried to coerce her to provide sexual services and beat her when she refused.
The woman, identified only as "H.E.," told the jurors that she had just turned 18 when she met Boykins in October 2018. She said he approached her at a gas station in Little Rock. Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benecia Moore, H.E. described for the jury how Boykins first complimented her on her looks and then asked for her phone number.
She said Boykins contacted her by text later that night and over the next couple of days, convincing her to send photos of herself to him and telling her she could make a lot of money "if you want to."
In text messages read in court, H.E. said that Boykins told her repeatedly that under his guidance, she could make a lot of money, "because you're too d*** fine to not be a public figure." She testified that Boykins told her, "You're a young, sexy thing, that's for sure, and you've got to know that with help and consistent motivation from each other we could make big bank, but that's only if you want to."
At one point, a text message purportedly sent by Boykins said, "Being a gorgeous woman you could f*** Obama if you wanted to and charge him his daughter's trust fund."
Within a few days, H.E. said, she consented to move in with Boykins after he told her he was living with his girlfriend and their baby.
"I needed a place to stay," she explained. "We had initially agreed I could come stay with him once I felt comfortable enough to do so ... It seemed like a safe place to be."
She testified that shortly after her arrival, Boykins' intentions became clear as he showed her an online profile he had put together using photos she had sent him via text and told her "he was in the process of setting up the ground rules."
H.E. testified that Boykins told her he had arranged a "date" for her and described to her the sex acts she was expected to perform and how much money she was to be paid. When she refused, she said, "he immediately became very angry."
"He slapped my face," she said, "he pushed me and put his hands to my throat."
H.E. said she ran from the apartment but Boykins caught her by the stairs and pulled her back in. She testified that several people walked into the apartment, but that Boykins "slapped my face again ... He told them not to help me." She said that night Boykins slept in front of the apartment door to prevent her from leaving.
She finally escaped the next day, she said, when Boykins took her and his girlfriend to a Little Rock Walmart. At first opportunity, she said, she got out of the car and ran to an employee for help, at which point police were called.
The trial resumes today at 9 a.m. with testimony from a second alleged victim planned as the as the first witness of the day.