Four members of “The Sevens” have now been convicted after a six-week trial in Allentown. The individuals who were convicted at trial are Shaquile Newson, 29; Alexander Malave, 31; Karvarise Person, 33; James Goode, 47. The members were convicted of numerous offenses: including conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise; conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion of a minor; various violent crimes; sex trafficking; and child exploitation. All fourteen people originally indicted in this case have now been convicted of charges stemming from this investigation.
We previously reported on “The Sevens” in January of 2020, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced that members and associates of “the Sevens” from Reading, Pennsylvania were charged in a 22-count Superseding Indictment. These charges and subsequent convictions are the result of a years-long investigation carried out by Homeland Security Investigations and the Reading Police Department. The Superseding Indictment paints a picture of extremely violent acts against women and minors. Victims were shot, assaulted, stabbed, murdered, and forced to have sex at gunpoint. A minor victim was forced to have a sexual encounter with a gun held to her head. Photos of this minor’s abuse were used to advertise the gang’s sex trafficking business. Further, the boarding house used to run “The Sevens” daily operations functioned to control the victims through intimidation and fear. According to media reports, the doors were guarded in order to control the flow of drugs. Gang members could assault anyone “who violated a rule, disrespected a gang member or refused to obey commands.”
The CSE Institute congratulates Homeland Security Investigations and the Reading Police Department for their efforts throughout the investigation. The work leading to these convictions is crucial to protecting trafficked individuals and eradicating sex trafficking once and for all. The CSE Institute also applauds the survivors for their bravery as it is irrefutable that survivor voices will be the ones to promulgate change in the sex trafficking narrative.
Sentencing in this case has not been scheduled; however, we will continue to provide updates on this matter.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.