TOLEDO (WTOL) - The wife of a former pastor accused of sex trafficking has plead guilty to making false statements.
Laura Lloyd Jenkins appeared in court on Wednesday to enter a guilty plea.
She now faces a maximum sentence of 8 years, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised released. The advisory guideline is 27 to 33 months in prison.
It is up to the judge how much time she spends behind bars.
With her guilty plea, her charge of obstructing a sex-trafficking investigation was dropped.
Lloyd-Jenkins is not in custody, but under house arrest until her sentencing in June.
In court, she did admit to making false statements to investigators in April when the FBI questioned her regarding the sex trafficking case involving two former pastors her ex-husband Cordell Jenkins and Anthony Haynes.
Assistant U.S. attorney Michael Freeman explained in court that she told investigators she had little interaction with the victim and did not know her age, but text messages between the two show she did know the age, asking about the girl’s day at school and more. Lloyd-Jenkins spoke out, saying she felt these messages were taken out of context.
Additionally, the government said Lloyd-Jenkins met with the juvenile and her guardian at a local pizza shop just a day before the investigation began where they told her Anthony Haynes and her ex-husband Cordell Jenkins had sex with the youth.
The former Lucas County administrator pleaded guilty to just one count of making a false statement, the second charge, obstruction of a human trafficking investigation hasn’t been dismissed yet.
She will be sentenced on June 4 at 11 a.m.
With her plea on Monday, that leaves just one person on the original indictment left.
So far, there have been three plea deals and three defendants remain to face their charges. Most notable to stand trial still is Anthony Haynes.
He's the former pastor, accused and charged with sex trafficking children, sexual exploitation of children and more.
He was originally set to face a judge and jury on Wednesday, but that was vacated and instead a status hearing will be held next week to decide what happens next in his case.
His former co-defendants, Cordell Jenkins and Kenneth Butler both plead guilty previously, but have yet to be sentenced.
Butler faces up to 17 and a half years in prison while Jenkins could face life in prison.
In a related but separate case, Anthony Haynes' wife and stepdaughter were also in court today to be arraigned.
Alisa Haynes is charged for tampering with a witness. While Alexis Fortune, Haynes stepdaughter, is changed with tampering with a witness, carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and making a false statement.
This story is developing. We will continue to keep you updated.
