Port Arthur Man Facing Human Trafficking Charge, 16 Facing Solicitation Charges Following DPS Operation in Beaumont
Trafficking of persons is a second degree felony and solicitation of prostitution became a state jail felony in Texas for those paying for sex in September 2021.
By Scott Eslinger Published: March 29, 2024
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BEAUMONT, Texas — A 39-year-old Port Arthur man is facing a human trafficking charge and 16 other men are facing solicitation charges after being caught in an undercover Texas Department of Public Safety operation this week in Beaumont.
Investigators with the DPS Criminal Investigations Division and several other state and local agencies participated in the operation which happened on Wednesday and Thursday and also recovered several human trafficking victims according to a news release from DPS.
12News agreed to hold publishing an article about the sting, which was focused on victims of human trafficking, until it was over at the request of DPS.
Jeremie Deshaun Nellar Barabin, 39, of Port Arthur, was arrested by DPS investigators on Wednesday on a charge of “trafficking of persons,” which is a second degree felony.
He is currently being held on the charge at the Jefferson County Correctional Facility where his bond is set at $45,000, according to jail records.
According to jail records a total of 16 other men were arrested for solicitation of prostitution which, as of September 2021, is a state jail felony in Texas.
The following were arrested for solicitation of prostitution and booked into the Jefferson County Correctional Facility on Thursday evening…
- Justin Miguel Angel, 20, $4,000 bond
- James Walter Beuhler, 62, $4,000
- Larry Joseph Bigalow, 43, $6,500 bond
- Jeremy Scott Chapman, 46, of Jennings, La., $5,000 bond
- Tyler Emanuale Callhan, 31, $4,000
- Terell Lakeith Coker, 44, $5,000
- Jayce William Dunne, 31, $4,000 bond
- Cedric Ted Fontenot, 49, $4,000 bond
- Nicholas Gilmore-Jones, 24, $7,000 bond
- Steven Floyd Lawrence, 37, $4,000
- David Lee Mullins, 55 , $6,500
- John Frederick Nolte III, 55, $10,000
- Nolte also faces a charge of possession of more than a gram of a controlled substance in penalty group 1 or 1B, which is a state jail felony.
- Shahram Omid, 24, $4,000
- Samuel Rodriguez-Benavente, 27, $4,000
- Jakorian Jamaal Sanderson, 28, $5,000
- Alfred T Thompson, 40, $4,000
All of the men are in the Jefferson County Correctional Facility.
In the case against Barabin, a TABC agent working undercover made contact with a woman via text using a number found on an adult website according to the affidavit.
After speaking to the woman over a video chat he made arrangements to meet her at a hotel in the 2000 block of 11th St. in Beaumont.
When the woman arrived he met her in the lobby and they went to a room where they discussed and agreed upon a price for a sexual act according to the affidavit.
After he agreed on the price, the undercover TABC agent went into the bathroom and waited while uniformed DPS investigators entered the hotel room and detained the woman.
When she was interviewed by investigators she told them that she had met Barabin about two months ago and that he had coerced her into prostitution by threatening her with “physical violence,” according to the affidavit.
She told them that if she did not give Barabin the money or perform a “sex date” that had been arranged that he would hurt her. She also told them she had seen him assault other women the affidavit said.
Barabin forced her to give him 80% of the money she made and in the past two months she had sent him “thousands of dollars” via CashApp, the woman told investigators.
The Texas Highway Patrol, DPS Victim Support Services, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Beaumont Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and the Governor’s Office – Child Sex Trafficking Team assisted in the operation. Organizations specializing in assisting human trafficking victims including the Harvest House and the Garth House were also involved.