HAMMOND | In his second attempt at admitting to a sex trafficking charge, Haneef Jackson-Bey successfully pleaded guilty Friday in Hammond federal court.
Jackson-Bey, 21, of East Chicago, torpedoed two plea deals last year because he was unwilling to cooperate with authorities in his older brother's murder case.
Jackson-Bey faces a minimum of 15 years in prison in the sex trafficking case, which netted jury convictions against four other accused pimps led by Justin "Tootie" Cephus, of Hammond. By law, Hammond federal Senior Judge Rudy Lozano could sentence Jackson-Bey to life in prison.
Under federal law, Jackson-Bey will have to serve 85 percent of any prison sentence. He told Lozano he had heard that law could change.
"Is there such a thing as President Obama passing a 65 percent law?" Jackson-Bey asked.
Lozano said he couldn't speak to the topic.
Jackson-Bey signed a plea deal with prosecutors similar to the plea deal he signed before his first change-of-plea hearing. The crucial difference in Jackson-Bey's new plea deal is that it omits a clause from the previous agreement that called for him to cooperate with investigators looking into "any violation of state or federal law." It was that part of the first plea agreement that led Jackson-Bey to halt an October change-of-plea hearing by vowing he will never cooperate with investigators against his brother, convicted murderer Khalid Jackson-Bey.
That last-minute courtroom revolt followed a similar surprise declaration in May at his brother's murder trial for the killing of 19-year-old Dominique Keesee in East Chicago in November 2007. Haneef Jackson-Bey, who pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal in the Keesee case, bolted from the witness stand, and his behavior scotched a plea deal on state criminal charges.
Haneef Jackson-Bey since has been sentenced to four years for assisting a criminal, a term he will serve concurrently with a 10-year sentence he received in a separate burglary. Khalid Jackson-Bey is serving a 109-year sentence for the murder and other crimes. He lost a plea bid on the murder charge last week.
Sentencing is scheduled for early June.
