Chicago father, 2 sons sentenced for sex trafficking

CHICAGO (AP) - A Chicago father and his twin sons have been sentenced for running a sex trafficking business with underage girls.

Nathan Nicholson was sentenced to 16 1/2 years in prison, and his sons, Tyrelle and Myrelle Lockett, were sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison each, the Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/2mznKiM ) reported. The three men pleaded guilty last year to one count each of sex trafficking of a minor.

Prosecutors say the brothers solicited victims at malls in Chicago and northwest Indiana as well as over social media.

Court records say the men brought the girls to an abandoned house in Chicago's south suburbs, took provocative photos of them and coerced them into having their "skills tested" by having sex with the twins. The men kept all of the money the women received from clients.

Court records show several of the victims testified before U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow in October, saying the family's actions had lasting impacts on their lives, from ongoing drug addiction to being relegated to the streets with limited options beyond the sex trade.

"Men like Tyrelle and Myrelle need to be locked away," one teenager wrote in a statement to the court. "Cause weather (sic) they see it or not, the girls and women they put through this suffer greatly. They have made my life hell and I would not wish this pain I'm going through on my worst enemy."

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Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com