- Tevon Jarell Cullors-Tillman was sentenced to jail and probation for human trafficking.
- He was caught in St. George with a missing Massachusetts teen girl, and later pleaded guilty.
- A plea deal reduced charges, and the judge followed attorneys' request to suspend the statutory prison sentence.
ST. GEORGE — A Las Vegas man will spend a year in jail and four years on probation as part of a plea deal after being found in St. George trafficking a teenage girl from Massachusetts.
Tevon Jarell Cullors-Tillman, 38, was sentenced last week to a term of one to 15 years in prison for benefitting from human trafficking for sexual exploitation, a second-degree felony, and a term of zero to five years for human trafficking for sexual exploitation, a third-degree felony.
Fifth District Judge Eric Gentry suspended the prison terms and ordered him to serve one year in jail, with credit for the 109 days he already spent in jail, followed by probation. The prison sentences could still be imposed if he does not follow the law while on probation.
Cullors-Tillman was arrested in St. George on Feb. 1, 2023, when police found him traveling with a teenage girl after pulling him over for an improper lane change and speeding. A Utah Highway Patrol trooper reported smelling marijuana and seeing an open container of alcohol, and the teen gave a false name and birthday.
Troopers soon learned from a law enforcement database that the girl was a missing and endangered child from Massachusetts listed on a law enforcement database. In an interview, a police booking affidavit said the girl told police she had a history of being the subject of prostitution and was told she would be involved in prostitution once Cullors-Tillman brought her to Las Vegas, but he had changed the plan and told her they were going to California.
"It was found the juvenile victim was completely dependent on and feared Cullors-Tillman would harm her or her family," the affidavit said.
Police say Cullors-Tillman had communicated with the girl online, purchased a bus ticket to take her from Massachusetts to Denver, and then picked her up in Denver in a rental car.
As part of his sentence, Cullors-Tillman was also ordered not to have any contact with the girl or her family unless approved by Adult Probation and Parole and to follow the conditions of being a sex offender.
He pleaded guilty on April 30 under a deal that reduced a first-degree felony to a second-degree felony and dismissed multiple additional charges. He was initially charged with human trafficking of a child, a first-degree felony; endangerment of a child or elder adult, a second-degree felony; marijuana distribution, a third-degree felony; possession or use of marijuana, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and harboring a runaway, class B misdemeanors; open container of alcohol in a vehicle, a class C misdemeanor; along with traffic infractions for not signaling and driving in the center lane of a roadway.
The judge agreed to bind himself to the sentence attorneys suggested at the time the plea was entered.
