Long-serving man faces 15 years in prison for running sex and drug den at Mass and Cass

A man who ran a prostitution and cocaine den at the Mass and Cass locations pleaded guilty today to several federal charges. If a judge agrees, he will serve 15 years in prison followed by five years of probation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Jonathan “Ason” Vaughan, 37, has formally pleaded guilty to three counts of sex trafficking with force, fraud and coercion, two counts of transporting an individual for the purpose of prostitution and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns scheduled sentencing for Dec. 19.

Vaughan was already under investigation by Homeland Security for sex trafficking here, on the Cape, and in New York when Boston police arrested him in Mass and Cass on October 13, 2021, on charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and trafficking one specific woman — in a tent he kept in the growing camp there.

According to an affidavit by a Homeland Security agent, Vaughan had been trafficking women since 2015, using the Mass and Cass tent as a place to stay for a number of women as long as they pulled enough tricks to meet his daily quota of cash.

I know that VAUGHAN personally recruited his victims, including in Downtown Crossing and in and around Mass. and Cass, Boston. VAUGHAN also recruited women over the internet, specifically through Facebook. According to Facebook records, VAUGHAN sent women Facebook messages as a method of recruitment dating back to at least 2015. VAUGHAN recruited victims to work for him and to perform commercial sex acts on paying clients with promises of a better life, including financial stability, nice hotels and clothing, shelter (in his tent or hotels), and drugs to feed his addictions. In fact, VAUGHAN had “brown” (heroin or fentanyl) and “hard” (crack cocaine) available to his victims.

Vaughan, who threatened women who did not obey him with violence, also made an appeal online:

VAUGHAN drove his victims to hotels, many of which he booked in person or online, according to records he viewed on Priceline.com. These hotels were located in locations such as Boston, Chelsea, Saugus, the Cape and Queens, and Manhattan, New York. Once there, VAUGHAN would have his victims go on “dates,” both as in-calls at the hotel and out-calls at a location of the client’s choosing. VAUGHAN also forced at least two of his victims to approach him outside, walking “the track” in areas such as Mass. and Cass in Boston, Broadway in Chelsea, and in and around Times Square in Manhattan. VAUGHAN would set financial goals for his sex trafficking victims and threaten them not to return if they did not meet those quotas on a particular night.

According to a criminal complaint from federal prosecutors, Vaughan continued to sell access to women even after his arrest — with the help of his brother, who prosecutors say had Vaughan log into his Facebook page so he could message women he was trying to convince to work for him. But, prosecutors added:

Perhaps the most egregious behavior the defendant has committed while in custody on federal sex trafficking charges is the text messages the defendant sent to women in an attempt to recruit and train them to perform commercial sex for payment at his command. (“I need you to get in touch with your zaddys business and you stay committed as you are. I absolutely need you to get a phone and put a certain number on it using a simple cell phone. I have a lot of $$$ to call it so I need you to make moves for me and I will put you in any position I can so you can get ahead in life. I absolutely need you to get a phone and put a certain number on it using a simple cell phone. I have a lot of $$$ to call it so I need you to make moves for me and I will put you in any position I can so you can get ahead in life.”)

The statement said Vaughan has a criminal record dating back to at least 2005:

VAUGHAN is 35 years old and faces twenty-two adult charges. Specifically, VAUGHAN was convicted in February 2020 of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (all: a firearm) and several firearm charges, including possession of a loaded firearm, following an arrest in September 2019. He was sentenced to two years home confinement with probation from and after his release from custody. He was on probation out of Chelsea District Court prior to his February 2020 conviction during his commission of the crimes that are the subject of the current federal indictment. In fact, the phone number VAUGHAN gave to the probation service as his own was the same number that was associated with sex-for-money ads depicting victims of VAUGHAN’s sex trafficking.

VAUGHAN’s other convictions include the following: aggravated assault, assault on a person over the age of sixty, and assault on a police officer, for which he served four years (Barnstable Superior, 2015); possession with intent to distribute heroin, assault on a police officer, and resisting arrest, for which he served one year (Chelsea District 2013); receiving a stolen motor vehicle, for which he served six months (Boston Municipal Court, Central Division, 2011); possession with intent to distribute marijuana and bribery of a public servant, for which he served six months of a two-year sentence (Boston Municipal Court, Central Division, 2009); assault on a public servant, for which he served six months (Boston Municipal Court, Central Division, 2007); distribution and possession with intent to distribute a Class B substance, for which he served two years (Boston Municipal Court, Central Division, 2005); and, possession with intent to distribute a Class B substance, for which he served two years (Boston Municipal Court, Central Division 2005). VAUGHAN appears to be a repeat offender.

In December 2012, Vaughan got a breakthrough when he was released from a 2.5-year drug sentence because evidence in his case had been manipulated by disgraced state chemist Annie Dookhan.

Less than a month later, however, he was arrested in Chelsea on new charges. Police had caught him drinking a Natty Ice at a McDonald’s. As officers escorted him out, he shouted, “I just got out of Annie Dookhan and I’m not going back to jail.” He then tried to escape from police, who arrested him instead and found crack on him when he was arrested for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

Agreement with prosecutors (3.2 million PDF).
Prosecutors’ archive with more details about his activities (231k PDF).