She needed cash for son’s headstone, so boyfriend pushed her into prostitution, feds say
A 23-year-old woman searching for a job needed money to buy a headstone for her son’s grave — before her boyfriend pushed her into prostitution, federal prosecutors say.
For years, Randy Jonal Schenck, 41, of Louisiana, kept the woman “compliant and under his control” through violence and coercion in his prostitution scheme spanning Arizona, California, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Tennessee and Texas, according to the Justice Department.
At some point, Schenck came up with a new plan involving drugging dates with a concoction of prescription medications, court documents show. Once the men were unconscious, they would be robbed, investigators say.
One individual who was drugged was found dead the next day, according to prosecutors.
A judge sentenced Schenck, of New Orleans, to 25 years in prison on Oct. 6 in connection with his nationwide sex-trafficking enterprise that lasted about four years, according to a news release. This comes after prosecutors say he pleaded guilty to seven counts of a pending indictment.
Schenck’s attorney Bruce Whittaker told McClatchy News in a statement that they plan to appeal his sentence and the court’s denial of their objections to a presentence investigation report. This report can only be accessed by the judge.
Prior to Schenck’s sentencing, the woman said he directed her to drug and rob at least 50 men, WWL-TV reported.
When the men woke up after an array of substances rendered them incapacitated, they were missing items including jewelry, money, debit and credit cards, guns and more, prosecutors say.
The case
Throughout Schenck’s prostitution scheme beginning in 2013 until 2017, he beat the woman on several occasions when she tried leaving him or disobeying his orders as they traveled across several states, according to the release and court documents. Additionally, prosecutors say he made violent threats against her family.
In 2013, the pair were living in New Orleans and became romantically involved shortly after the woman’s son died and after she lost custody of her other children, according to an affidavit.
At the time, she wanted to save enough money for a headstone and to hire an attorney to fight for custody of her children, the affidavit states.
Within weeks of meeting, Schenck encouraged the woman to work as a prostitute, specifically for an escort agency, and began coordinating all of her dates, according to investigators. As a result, he kept the money she made during the years-long enterprise.
The woman worked for the agency for three months until she was ready to buy a headstone for her son, the affidavit says.
But when she asked Schenck for the money, he beat her and tried drowning her in a bathtub, according to investigators. Afterward, his physical abuse toward her became regular and he modified the “prostitution operation.”
To find clients, Schenck posted online advertisements for prostitution services, or the woman would approach men on the street and at nightclubs, according to the affidavit. During the “prostitution dates,” the men would be robbed.
Schenck would beat the woman to assert control, typically when he thought she “was not performing her role effectively, stealing enough from the dates, or not wanting to work,” the affidavit states. On one occasion, she ended up in a hospital, the release says.
In 2014, they started traveling throughout the U.S. before the “prostitution enterprise evolved to include a scheme to defraud,” according to the release.
Schenck devises new scheme
In 2015, while Schenck and the woman were in California, Schenck modified the prostitution scheme to “rob (men) more effectively,” the affidavit states.
To do so, he created a mixture of medications including xanax, seroquel, depakote and trazodone, and put them inside a capsule so the woman could “spike” the drinks of the men she met with for sex acts, according to investigators.
This plan proved deadly in 2017 after the woman met with an individual identified as “S.A.” in Louisiana, according to the release.
Schenck dropped the woman off at S.A.’s apartment where she gave him drugs and alcohol, eventually leaving him incapacitated, prosecutors say. Then, she stole his debit card.
The next day, law enforcement arrived at the apartment to conduct a wellness check, and S.A. was found dead, according to the release.
S.A.’s father told WWL-TV in a statement that he “promised (his) son justice and my family closure.”
“By God, we are not giving up. We are grateful for the success to date. However, we have only achieved partial justice,” the father told the outlet.
McClatchy News contacted the woman’s attorney for comment and was awaiting a response as of Oct. 11.
She was named as a movant in the case against Schenck, court records show.
Schenck is due back in court for a hearing in regards to a restitution order on Dec. 29, the release says.
This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 7:49 AM with the headline "She needed cash for son’s headstone, so boyfriend pushed her into prostitution, feds say."
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