A Brunswick County man pleaded guilty to human trafficking in Brunswick County Superior Court on Monday.
According to Assistant District Attorney Daniel Thurston, Shawn Christopher Conley, 21, of Southport, pleaded guilty to human trafficking of a minor. Conley was sentenced to 80-108 months in the N.C. Department of Corrections.
Multiple other charges against Conley were dismissed per the plea deal, Thurston said.
“We’re very satisfied with the plea,” Thurston said. “Our emphasis was on the human trafficking. That was the emphasis of the plea.”
Conley and his co-defendant, Kyle Bradley Wolfe, 21, were indicted on two counts of promoting prostitution of a minor and two counts of supervising, supporting or protecting minors for prostitution in June. In September, Conley and Wolfe were indicted in connection with an attempted robbery of a former Brunswick County police officer who was fired after being charged with participating in the prostitution of a minor.
Conley, Wolfe, and Matthew Dillon Vaczy, 18, were indicted on charges of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling or moving vehicle, according to court records.
According to indictments, Conley, Wolfe and Vaczy are charged with trying to rob Michael Alan Hayes, a former lieutenant for the Northwest Police Department, on Nov. 27, 2012. All three men were initially charged with shooting into a 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe occupied by Hayes and another woman.
In November 2012, the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department began an investigation into a web-based prostitution operation via social media websites, according to Police Chief Bradford Shirley. On May 6, the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department announced that Wolfe and Conley were arrested in the investigation into the web-based prostitution advertisements.
Wolfe is scheduled to appear in Brunswick County Superior Court on May 19. Vaczy’s case is “on hold,” Thurston said.
Former officer indicted on prostitution charges
Hayes was indicted July 1 on charges of participating in prostitution of a minor and submitting a false report to a police station.
According to the indictment, Hayes is charged with contacting a Brunswick County sheriff’s deputy on Nov. 27, 2012, and making a false statement concerning the source and circumstances of bullet strikes to his vehicle and hindering the investigation into the cause of the incident.
Hayes is also charged with allegedly contacting a 17-year-old female via an advertisement on Craigslist. He reportedly met with the teen in Boiling Springs Lakes and exchanged $60 for sex acts. He was charged with participating in the prostitution of a minor. Hayes has been released from the Brunswick County Detention Center under a $100,000 unsecured bond.
Hayes is scheduled to appear in Brunswick County Superior Court on April 21.
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