A 24-year-old Utah woman, already facing personal tragedy, has pleaded guilty to federal charges connected to a child sex trafficking ring. Ashley Nicole Poike of Sandy admitted to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking in a plea deal with prosecutors on Tuesday.
Poike was indicted in August along with two men, Hector Yordano Irizarry Castro, 24, and Thomas Marte-Pena, 27, both from Salt Lake City. The trio faced a nine-count indictment that included charges of child sex trafficking, conspiracy, and transportation of minors for illegal sexual activity.
Their arrests were part of a joint FBI and Salt Lake City police operation that resulted in multiple arrests across Utah. Just weeks after her indictment, Poike’s life was struck by further tragedy when her two-month-old daughter and her mother, who had been caring for the baby, were shot and killed in an unrelated crime in Salt Lake City.
According to court documents, the trafficking case dates back to Valentine’s Day weekend in 2014. Poike admitted to traveling with three girls under the age of 18 to Idaho, where they posted ads on Backpage.com, a website notorious for promoting prostitution. The trip, she said, was organized by Marte-Pena, who asked Castro to drive them.
“As part of this agreement, I agreed to collect money from the girls’ dates, I agreed to provide Mr. Marte-Pena money from the girls’ profits made in Idaho, and I agreed to reimburse Mr. Castro for the cost of the hotel room in Idaho,” Poike’s plea states. Prosecutors said Poike arranged appointments for one of the girls and collected money on her behalf, fully aware that the girl was a minor.
Following her guilty plea, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson sentenced Poike to seven years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The judge also agreed to recommend she serve her sentence at a federal facility in Bryan, Texas, though the final decision rests with the Bureau of Prisons.
Co-defendant Castro has a change of plea hearing scheduled for December 14, while Marte-Pena’s case is set for trial on January 25. A month after Poike’s arrest, her mother, 50-year-old Heike Poike, and her infant daughter, Lyrik, were found shot to death alongside 28-year-old Dakota Smith. The suspect, 32-year-old Alexander Hung Tran, was charged with three counts of aggravated murder.
U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said the court acknowledged Poike’s personal loss but emphasized that the punishment fit the crime. “Our federal prosecutor acknowledged the tragedy that happened to her family while she was in custody,” Rydalch said. “She also highlighted the conduct that led to the charges and the reasons we believe the sentence was just and appropriate.”