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SALT LAKE CITY — A victim of her own separate tragedy since she was indicted earlier this year, a Sandy woman accused in a child sex trafficking ring has pleaded guilty.
Ashley Nicole Poike, 24, entered a plea agreement with federal prosecutors Tuesday, admitting to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Poike was indicted in August — along with Hector Yordano Irizarry Castro, 24, and Thomas Marte-Pena, 27, both of Salt Lake City — in a nine-count indictment alleging sex trafficking of children, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, transportation with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
The trio was rounded up, along with five other Utahns in three additional cases, in a joint operation between the FBI and Salt Lake police in August.
Weeks later, Poike's 2-month-old daughter and Poike's mother who had been caring for the baby were both shot to death in a Salt Lake home in an unrelated crime.
According to court documents, on the weekend of Valentine's Day in 2014, Poike went with three girls under the age of 18 to Idaho to post ads for them on Backpage.com, a site known for advertising prostitution. According to Poike's plea, the trip was arranged by Marte-Pena, who asked Castro to drive the group.
"As part of this agreement, I agreed to collect money from the girls' dates, I agreed to provide Mr. Marte-Pena money from the girls' profits made in Idaho, and I agreed to reimburse Mr. Castro for the cost of the hotel room in Idaho," Poike's plea states.
Poike also admitted to arranging appointments for one of the girls, then collecting the money for them, all while knowing the girl's age, according to the plea.
A change of plea hearing for Castro is scheduled for Dec. 14 while Marte-Pena's case is progressing toward a jury trial, set to begin Jan. 25.
After Poike entered the plea Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson sentenced her to seven years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Benson agreed to recommend Poike serve her time at a facility in Bryan, Texas, but her assignment will ultimately be up to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
A month after Poike's arrest, her mother, 50-year-old Heike Poike, and infant daughter, 2-month-old Lyrik Poike, were brutally shot to death along with another man, Dakota Smith, 28. Their bodies were discovered when Heike Poike didn't arrive to pick up her 8-year-old grandson from school.
8 Utahns indicted in child sex trafficking case
Eight people have been indicted in federal court with child sex trafficking, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Friday.The owner of the house where the three were living, Alexander Hung Tran, 32, was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated murder. Tran had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in the weeks before the shooting, according to police.
Following the hearing Tuesday, U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said the court was sympathetic to Poike's tragic situation, while affirming the sentence was appropriate.
"Our federal prosecutor acknowledged the tragedy that happened to (Poike's) family while she was in custody. She also highlighted the conduct that led to the charges and the reasons we believe the sentence was just and appropriate," Rydalch said.
Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking carries a potential maximum sentence of up to life in federal prison. The dismissed charges of child sex trafficking and transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity carry 10-year mandatory-minimum sentences.
