Former
Garland County Sheriff’s Deputy Pleads Guilty to Prostitution Offense
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U.S.
Attorney’s OfficeJuly
29, 2013
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·
Western District of Arkansas(501)
340-2600
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TEXARKANNA, AR—Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the
Western District of Arkansas, announced that former Garland County Sheriff’s
Deputy Neil Parliament, 39, pleaded guilty in federal court to a one-count
information for arranging for a minor to travel to Hot Springs, Arkansas, to
engage in prostitution. At the time of the offense, Parliment was a marine
patrol officer with the Garland County Sheriff’s Office. The Honorable Susan O.
Hickey accepted the plea in United States District Court in Texarkana.
United States Attorney Eldridge commented, “Mr. Parliament abused
his position of public trust to engage in illegal activities involving
prostitution. This activity is unacceptable, and we will continue to bring to
justice those individuals who seek to use similar positions to perpetrate
crimes.”
According to court documents, in early February 2013, the Little
Rock Police Department was contacted by a minor female who admitted to police
that she had been engaging in prostitution. The individual resided in Memphis,
Tennessee, and admitted to traveling into Arkansas to meet clients. She told officers
that one client, Mr. Parliament, was a police officer in Hot Springs, Arkansas,
and showed officers numerous text messages regarding her traveling to Hot
Springs to engage in prostitution. She further admitted to officers that she
first made contact with Parliament in January 2013. At that time, Parliament
made arrangements for her to travel from Memphis to Hot Springs, including
arranging for her to stay in a local hotel room. When she arrived in Hot
Springs, she and Parliament engaged in sexual activity in the hotel room in
exchange for payment. Parliament then arranged for her to meet with other
individuals, with whom she also engaged in sexual activity in exchange for
payment.
Parliament was originally arrested on a federal warrant on June
13, 2013. At sentencing, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the
court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s
prior criminal record (if any), the defendant’s role in the offense, and the
characteristics of the violations. The sentence will not exceed the statutory
maximum, and in most cases it will be less than the maximum. In this case,
Parliament faces the maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a fine of
$250,000.
This case was investigated by the FBI Denied Innocence Task Force
and the Little Rock Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Dustin
Roberts is prosecuting the case for the United States.