New York man sentenced to state prison for prostituting HIV-positive Mississippi woman in Scranton area
Jul. 20—SCRANTON — A 28-year-old New York man will spend 2 1/2 to seven years in state prison for prostituting an HIV-positive woman in the Scranton area late last year.
Keshon Michael Bailey, of Schenectady, was sentenced Thursday by Lackawanna County Judge Margaret Bisignani Moyle for his April 21 guilty plea to a charge of trafficking of individuals.
Prosecutors agreed to drop several prostitution-related counts.
Bailey was arrested in early December after a prostitution investigation by members of the city police Street Crimes Unit.
Police accused him of making a woman from Mississippi have sex with 20 men over a roughly 10-day period beginning in late November. Bailey knew the woman had HIV, police said.
The woman, who was not charged, told investigators Bailey controlled her and would beat her if she refused to meet with a man, police said.
Bailey's attorney, Daniel Lipson, told Moyle the defendant was remorseful and asked the judge to consider a lenient sentence.
In handing down a sentence at the top end of the standard range, Moyle told Bailey the court was taking into account the seriousness of the charges and the impact on the victim and the community.
However, she noted the defendant has attended college and said she hopes he can rehabilitate himself.
"You have the ability when you're paroled to turn this around," the judge said.
Moyle said Bailey will receive credit for time served since his arrest. She ordered him to have no contact with the victim.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9132.
