Durham Woman Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking

GREENSBORO - LESLIE CHEVONNE STOUT was sentenced today to 144 months in prison after being convicted of sex trafficking, announced United States Attorney Sandra J. Hairston of the Middle District of North Carolina.

STOUT, age 43, pleaded guilty on October 16, 2023, to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, threats of force, fraud, and coercion.

Evidence at the trial of STOUT's codefendant Chester Fletcher Wallace showed that STOUT and Wallace ran a sex trafficking ring based out of a three-bedroom house located in Durham that Wallace rented from July 2021 until late spring of 2022. STOUT and Wallace recruited women who were homeless or suffering from substance abuse, promising them housing and drugs if they came to live at the residence. Once there, all five victims testified they were photographed for advertisements posted for commercial sex posted on sites such as "Mega Personals" and "Skipthegames," and that STOUT and Wallace set up the "dates" for commercial sex. The victims further testified that STOUT and Wallace established certain house rules that all the victims had to obey and used violence and coercion to enforce the rules of the house.

STOUT was sentenced today to 144 months imprisonment and ten years of supervised release by the Honorable Loretta C. Biggs, United States District Judge in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. In addition to prison time, STOUT was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $914,401.07.

Wallace was sentenced on November 2, 2023, to six life terms of imprisonment, to run concurrent with one another.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Durham Police Department, with support and assistance from the Durham County District Attorney's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole DuPré and former Assistant United States Attorney Tanner Kroeger.

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