Michigan Man Accused Of Sex Trafficking In Cambridge Has Court Date

WOBURN, MA – A Michigan man charged under the state’s new human trafficking law is scheduled for a June 6 possible change of plea in a case where he and a female accomplice are allegedly to have run a prostitution ring from Michigan to Massachusetts .

In Middlesex Superior Court on Tuesday, the attorney representing Melando Yaphet Streety, 34, of Michigan, agreed to a June 6 status date for a possible change of plea on charges of: trafficking a person under 18 for sexual servitude (2 counts), deriving support from a minor prostitute (2 counts) and rape (5 counts).

Streety, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, is currently being held without bail.

Co-defendant Bryahna Tracey-Bushamie, 20, of Michigan is also charged with: trafficking a person under 18 for sexual servitude (2 counts) and deriving support from a minor prostitute (2 counts). Her case is pending.

The Middlesex District Attorney's Office alleges that in early September of 2013, Tracey-Bushamie allegedly drove the victims from Michigan to Cambridge in a vehicle rented by defendant Streety for the purpose of engaging in the commercial sex industry.

On Sept. 7, 2013, Streety allegedly rented a room at the Best Western Plus Hotel in Cambridge. Advertisements were posted to the on-line website www.backpage.com offering the victims to perform sexual services for a fee and providing a phone number.

The victims were dropped at the hotel by the defendants, who gave them cell phones with numbers corresponding to those listed on the ads. The victims were directed to take calls, arrange and engage in sexual services in exchange for money and then collect the money and turn it over to the defendants.

On Sept. 9, 2013, Streety allegedly rented a room at the Marriott Hotel in Kendall Square, Cambridge, paying cash. The arrangements were the same as before, but Streety allegedly accompanied the victims to the room on this occasion.

While there, and before anyone else arrived, it is alleged that he forced both women to engage in non-consensual sex, prosecutors allege. Following that, Streety left the room and a client arrived. Hotel security, becoming suspicious, contacted the Cambridge Police Department.

Cambridge police located the www.backpage.com advertisement for services and made contact with one of the victims. Through their investigation, authorities located money, cell phones, a ledger, advertisements, condoms, a credit card and receipts.

“These are disturbing allegations that the defendants orchestrated a scheme by which they brought two young women from Michigan to Cambridge and forced them to work as prostitutes,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a press release.

“Human trafficking is estimated to be a $32 billion industry which relies on exploitation for economic profit. Each year, nearly 30 million people are trafficked worldwide and 15-18 thousand are estimated to be trafficked in the U.S. alone. This new human trafficking legislation has given us more effective tools to target prostitution and forced labor, ensuring that we have more resources to better aid the victims of this devastating crime,” she said.

Photo of Melando Yephet Streety by Lisa Redmond/lisa.redmond@patch.com.