3/13/24, 8:13 am

BY: C. Tierney

In January of 2021, four individuals were arrested in connection with what law enforcement alleged was a sex trafficking ring being run out of Crittenden County, Arkansas.

As you may remember, folks were outraged at the bond discrepancy between the four as notably the two white men had been released quickly on $35,000 bonds while the others were being held on $750,000 bonds.

The four were federally indicted in late 2021 so the state case was dismissed.

The situation quickly devolved into a political game for the 2nd Judicial District which includes the counties of Crittenden, Poinsett, Greene, Mississippi, and Clay. In November of 2022 there was an election for the prosecutor that would be in charge of the entire 2nd Judicial District and the folks running for that spot were Martin Lilly, Corey Seats, and Sonia Fonticellia (Now Sonia Hagood.)

The previous prosecutor was Keith Chrestman and before him was Scott Ellington, both of whom are now Circuit Court Judges in that Judicial District. You may recognize these names as two of the individuals directly responsible for the West Memphis Three case that has become a disturbing disgrace to the 2nd Judicial District and the entire state of Arkansas. Ellington was the original prosecutor on the case who doubled down in 2011 after allowing the wrongfully convicted Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley to take an Alford plea and be released from prison.

It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to realize that no prosecutor would allow three child murderers on the streets and that Ellington knew and knows that these men were innocent. However, in Arkansas one thing we know about prosecutors is that all they care about are numbers. The case is considered closed and that means they don’t HAVE to do anything so they certainly won’t.

Just ask the 5th Judicial District.

Anywho, I’m sure you’re wondering how it turned political. Well, let me tell you all about that!

“BRYAN DONALDSON SEEKING ACCESSORY-must be okay with child trafficking.

Low blood sugar is surely to blame for something as wild as to start a group chat with some former colleagues offering up a hit on the Deputy Prosecuting Attorney that charged him. Interesting bedfellows you continue to keep.

Martin Lilly, the same guy running against Sonia Fonticiello to be the new Prosecuting Attorney for the 2nd Judicial District. The candidate for the chief law enforcement officer in the district is meeting with a defendant in a federal human trafficking case. The same defendant who is in the group chat letting anyone know that if they want Mike Snell gone to circle the wagons.

Why would Marty Lilly speak to Bryan Donaldson let alone be a part of a plan to remove the person who charged him? Funny how no one showed up except Marty Lilly, Bryan Donaldson, and Tom Donaldson.

Craighead, Poinsett, Clay, Greene, Mississippi, and Crittenden counties you really need to consider the priorities Lilly truly has. Lilly has been quoted as saying “I think that when you try these cases and get these convictions and you put people in prison for long periods of time the message gets out, ‘Hey. I don’t want to go commit a crime in this area’,” he said. “That prosecutor is tough, he is going to seek life in prison.””

-Arkansas Justice Project, September 16th, 2022

Yes, this was posted by our page. These are our words. Why were we lead to believe that this screenshot indicated some sort of nefarious plan to off a current deputy prosecutor? We’d sure love to know.

Back to the point of this article: What if we told you the REAL traffickers were never arrested? What if I told you that one of them has a father who is currently an elected Justice of the Peace in West Memphis?

In a search warrant return filed on Court Connect, the victim of the trafficking scheme very cleary stated that she was brought across state lines from Arizona by two individuals. She names them several times. She states that these two individuals brought her here from Arkansas and then began to “pimp” her out to various individuals. These traffickers also sexually assaulted the victim numerous times.

So, what were the actual traffickers charged with?

They were never charged.

They were never arrested.

Were they ever brought in for questioning? I’m sure that’s been turned over in the federal discovery….right?

According to the filings by the State of Arkansas, Donaldson and Blair were simply clients of these particular sex traffickers. There is no indication that they were aware of the victim’s age. There is no indication that they were involved in moving the victim across state lines to Arkansas from Arizona. Typically this would have been a misdemeanor charge of Sexual Solicitiation.

Universal Citation: AR Code § 5-70-103 (2020)

1. (a) A person commits the offense of sexual solicitation if he or she:
   1. (1) Offers or agrees to pay a fee to a person to engage in sexual activity with him or her or another person; or
   2. (2) Solicits or requests a person to engage in sexual activity with him or her in return for a fee.
2. (b) Sexual solicitation is an unclassified misdemeanor with the following sentences:
   1. (1) For a first offense:
      1. (A) No more than ninety (90) days’ imprisonment;
      2. (B) A fine of no more than two thousand dollars ($2,000); or
      3. (C) Both imprisonment and a fine; and
   2. (2) For a second or subsequent offense:
      1. (A) No more than one (1) year of imprisonment;
      2. (B) A fine of no more than three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500); or
      3. (C) Both imprisonment and a fine.
3. (c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the person engaged in an act of sexual solicitation as a result of being a victim of trafficking of persons, § 5-18-103.
4. (d) In addition to any other sentence authorized by this section, a person who violates this section by offering to pay, agreeing to pay, or paying a fee to engage in sexual activity upon conviction shall be ordered to pay a fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) to be deposited into the Safe Harbor Fund for Sexually Exploited Children.

So why was Donaldson charged with Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking and Sex Trafficking while the ACTUAL traffickers were not?

We would sure love to know…

So what happens when we don’t tell the whole story?

Despite the fact that these four individuals were federally indicted in late 2021, it has not been to trial yet. We have watched as Bryan Donaldson in particular had his law license suspended and as you likely saw in the news, Donaldson was arrested for two DUI’s in the same day last month. Obviously no one is responsible for Donaldson’s actions but the context of what is actually happening here is very important.

How would you feel if you knew you had been used as a pawn in a political game of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic so that corrupt do-nothing prosecutors could continue to do nothing? How would you feel if you watched a man be destroyed by allegations of child sex trafficking when you also were very aware that the folks that literally trafficked the child had not been arrested? Would you speak up? Would you stay silent?

I do not know Bryan Donaldson or Randle Blair. Based on the evidence I have seen in this case I believe Donaldson and Blair to be guilty of misdemeanor solicitation because they paid sex workers for sex acts. Does this mean these men are deserving of long federal prison sentences? And if you believe it does, what about the people that trafficked this child from Arizona? What is the difference between these men and the traffickers?

Politics.

I hope you, as a reader, understand why I wrote this. Honesty and accountability are just as important as justice.

In our next part in this series we will discuss WHO was named by the victim in this case as her traffickers and what their connection is to West Memphis politics and the West Memphis Police Department. Stay tuned!